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HON.  JOHN  LEAVITT  STEVENS  was  born  in  Mt.  Vernon,  Maine,  in  1S20. 
He  was  editor  for  many  years  of  the  Kennebec  Journal,  a  leading  political  news- 
paper of  Maine.  In  1889  lie  was  appointed  b}'  President  Harrison  Minister  to 
the  Hawaiian  Islands,  his  title  soon  after  being  changed  to  that  of  Minister  Plen- 
ipotentiary and  Envoy  Extraordinary.  He  resigned  this  position  in  the  spring  of 
1893.  Mr.  Stevens  had  the  degree  of  LL/.D.  conferred  upon  him  by  Tuft's  College 
in  1883.  I 


RICHES   AND    MARVELS 

...OF... 

HAWAII 


A    CHARMING    DESCRIPTION    OF 

Her  Unique  History,  Strange  People,  Exquisite  Climate, 
Wondrous   Volcanoes,    Luxurious    Productions, 
Beautiful  Cities,  Corrupt  Monarchy,  Rev- 
olution,  Provisional    Government 
and   Annexation. 

...BY... 

HON.  JOHN   L   STEVENS,  Ex-U.  S.  Minister, 

...AND... 

PROF.  W.  B.  OLESON,  of  Honolulu, 

15  Years  President  of  Kahemahema  College. 


Profusely  Enriched  with  Rare  and  Beautiful  Photographs, 

ILLUSTRATING    EVERY   PHASE     OF     LIFE     AND     SCENERY     IN    THOSE     MARVELLOUS     ISLANDS;     WITH     EX- 
PLANATIONS   OF    EACH    PREPARED 

BY    NIISS    NELLIE    WL.    STEVENS. 


PHILADELPHIA,   PA.: 
EDGEVVOOD    PUBLISHING    COMPANY,  Publishers. 


Copyrighted  by  the  Edgewood  Publishing  Co.,  1900. 


OS- 


LIST  OF  SUBJECTS. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 


Discovery  of  the  Islands. 
Ancient  Canoe  Journeys, 
Origin  of  Hawaiians. 
An  Ancient  Race. 
The  Common  People. 
The  Priesthood. 
System  of  Tabu. 
Social  Customs. 
Future  Life. 
Bones  of  the  Chiefs. 
Sorcery. 

Disastrous  Wars. 
Cook's  Discovery. 
Proximity  to  America. 
Size  of  the  Group. 
Captain  Cook's  Death. 


Worshipped  as  a  God. 
Vancouver's  Visits. 
British  Protectorate. 
Kamehameha  the  Great. 
His  Enterprise. 
His  Personal  Prowess. 
His  Conquest  of  the  Group. 
Centralizing  Policy. 
Distilling  Rum. 
His  Death. 
Idolatry  Abolished. 
Coming  of  the  Missionaries. 
Destruction  of  Idols. 
Kapiolani's  Heroism. 
Missionary  Success. 
The  Hope  of  Hawaii. 


THE  NATIVE  HAWAIIAN. 


The  Kanaka. 

Occupation  of  Kanakas. 

Ease  in  Gaining  a  Livelihood. 

Principal  Food  Staple. 

Value  and  Productiveness  of  Taro. 

Native  Indolence. 

Luxurious  Kanakai. 

Preparation  of  Poi. 

The  Hawaiian  not  a  Farmer. 

Master  of  Wind  and  Wave. 

The  Sea  His  Schoolmaster. 

Rare  Ingenuity. 

Superstitious  but  Brave. 

Kan.^kas  as  Cow-Boys. 

Hawaiian  Horse  Women. 

Hawaiian  Visiting. 

Dwellings. 

Hospitality. 

A  Native  Feast. 

Preparation  for  a  Feast. 


Action,  but  Reaction. 

Fondness  for  Nature. 

Guiding  Principle  in  All  Feasts. 

Come,  Let  Us  Eat. 

Eat,  Drink  and  Be  Merry. 

Hawaiian  Swimmers. 

Surf-Bathing. 

Lost  Arts. 

Clothed,  and  in  His  Right  Mind. 

The  Flower  Girls. 

A  Genuine  Politician. 

Decrease  of  Hawaiians. 

Half-Castes. 

Amalgamation. 

Growth  of  Foreign  Element. 

Causes  of  Decrease. 

Ability  to  Read  and  Write.. 

American  Sentiment. 

Religion. 

Hawaiians  and  New  Hawaii. 


Liquid  Sunshine. 
Equable  Climate. 
Healihfulness. 
Indigenous  Plants. 
Ownership  of  Land, 
Land  Awards. 
Crown  Lands. 


CLIMATE,  SOIL  AND  PRODUCTIONS. 
Foreign  Enterprise. 

Beneficent  Mission  of  American  Capital. 
Labor  Problems. 
Co-operative  Cane  Planting. 
Leasehold  System. 
Cane  Fields. 
Sugar  Making. 

(5) 


A^ooo'> 


LIST   OF   SUBJECTS. 


Rice  Growing. 
Coffee  Growing. 
Diversified  Industries. 
Reciprocity  Treaty. 
Benefits  to  the  United  States. 

HONOLULU 
Honolulu,  the  Cajiital. 
First  Glimjise  of  Honolulu. 
Birds-Eye  View. 
Honolulu  from  the  Sea. 
Genius  of  the  Foreigner. 
Size  of  Honolulu. 
Public  Buildings. 
Public  Works. 
Population  of  Honolulu. 
Portuguese  Colony. 
Pleasure  Resorts. 
Charitable  Institutions. 
Administration  of  Justice. 


Benefits  to  Hawaii. 
Not  an  Unmixed  Blessing. 
Commercial  Importance. 
Political  Importance. 

AND  OTHER  PLACES  OF  INTEREST. 
Education. 
Taxation. 

Harbor  of  Honolulu. 
Street  Scenes. 
The  Garden  Isle. 
The  Leper  Colony. 
Liberal  Treatment  of  Lepers. 
The  Valley  of  Death. 
Off  to  Windward. 
Lahaina  and  the  Whale  Trade. 
Windward  Hawaii. 
Beautiful  Hilo. 
Cocoanut  Island. 


VOLCANOES  AND   LAVA  FLOWS. 


Volcanic  Origin, 
Fissures  in  Earth's  Crust. 
Depth  of  Surrounding  Sea. 
Artesian  Borings. 
Sudsidence  and  Upheaval. 
Relative  Age  of  Islands. 
World  Building. 
Mokuaweoweo,  the  Terrible. 
Great  Interior  Plain. 
The  Lava  Flow  of  1855. 
The  Lava  Flow  of  1859. 
The  Lava  Flow  of  1880. 
The  Hilo  Viaduct. 


The  Forges  of  Vulcan. 

Kilauea. 

Floor  of  the  Crater. 

The  Lake  of  Fire. 

The  Goddess  Pele. 

At  Closer  Range. 

Remarkable  Disappearance  of  Fires. 

Sulphur  Deposits. 

From  Chaos  to  Paradise. 

Earthquakes  of  1868. 

Legend  of  Halai. 

Heathen  Oblation.";. 


THE  HAWAIIAN  MONARCHY. 


Kamehameha's  Arbitrary  Reign. 

Reaction  Sets  In. 

Growth  of  PoliticarPrivilege. 

Basis  of  Political  Unrest. 

The  First  Constitution. 

Constitution  of  1852. 

Perils  from  W^ithout. 

French  Aggressions. 

English  Aggressions. 

Real  Intent  of  Foreign  Interference. 

Effect  of  Foreign  Interference. 

Return  to  Autocratic  Rule. 

Constitution  of  1864. 


Segregation  of  Lepers. 
Annexation  Sentiment. 
Elective  Kings. 
Kalakaua  Unpopular. 
Political  Effect  of  Reciprocity. 
Hawaii  for  Hawaiians. 
Revival  of  Heathenism. 
Debasing  the  Electorate. 
The  Bauble  Bursts. 
Reform  Movement. 
Constitution  of  1887. 
Queen   Liliuokalani. 
Natural  Sequence  of  Events. 


EFFORT  TO  RESTORE  LILIUOKALANI. 
Ignominious  Failure.  Counter  Revolution. 

Provisional  Government. 


C.  B.  WILSON. — Mr.  C.  B.  Wilson  was  brought  into  prominence  during  the 
recent  revolution  in  Hawaii  from  being  chief  marshal  under  the  monarchial  govern- 
ment, and  the  strong  personal  friend  of  the  ex-Queen. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS, 


A  Group  of  Natives  Beating  the  Taro  Plant  into  Flour 

Alligator  Pears     . 

Along  the  VVailuku  River 

Boiling  Crater  of  a  Volcano 

Beautiful  Palms    . 

Captain  Gilbert  C.  Wiltse 

Cocoanut  Palms    . 

C.  B.  Wilson 

Doomed  to  Death 

Doctor  McGrew's  Residence 

Ex-Queen  Liliuokalani 

Great  Rush  of  Boiling  Lava  into  the  Water 

Gathering  of  the  Cane 

Government  Building   . 

Hawaiian  Hotel  . 

Hon.  John  Leavitt  Stevens 

Hawaiian  Picnic  . 

Hula  Girls  , 

Hon.  Lorrin  A.  Thurston 

lolani  Palace 

Judge  Wideman's  Residence 

J.  A.  Cummings    . 

Kauai,  the  River  Waimea 

Kaneohe  Valley   . 

Mausoleum  of  Lunalilo 

Making  Poi 

Mangoes 

Natives  with  their  Surf  Boards 

Night-Blooming  Cereus 

Princess  Kaiulani 

Picnic  Grounds  of  Hilo 

Prof.  W.  B.  Alexander 

Papaia  Tree 

Queen  Kapiolani 


PAGE 

95 
29 

183 
105 
271 
III 

7 
23 

139 
281 

193 
117 

2S7 

2 

61 

67 

315 
227 

155 
17 

265 

199 

39 

73 

127 

83 

237 
221 

325 
243 
331 


(9) 


lO 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Residence  of  C.  R.  Bishop  . 

Residence  of  Mr.  Waterliouse 

Steamer  Australia 

Services  at  Oahu  Prison 

San  Ford  Ballard  Dole  . 

The  Provisional  Government 

The  Lava  Bed  of  Hawaii     . 

The  Hawaiian  Woman  in  Pau 

The   Flower  Women  of  Honolulu 

Troops  Drilling  in  the  Government  Sq' 

Tree  Ferns 

The  Great  Crater  of  Kilauea 

The  Present  Seat  of  Government 

Umbrella  Tree     . 


PAGE 
169 

337 

45 

293 

3"3 

205 

89 

177 

309 
249 

215 

3-;  7 
259 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

DISCOVERY  OF  THE  ISLANDS.  The  visit  of  Capt. 
Cook  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  in  1778,  from  which  time 
their  discovery  is  commonly  reckoned,  was  not  by  any 
means  the  first  appearance  of  white  men  on  those  Islands. 
There  are  well  authenticated  Spanish  charts  of  the  Pacific, 
on  which  appear  a  group  of  islands  in  the  latitude  of  the 
Hawaiian  group,  although  ten  degrees  of  longitude  too  far 
east.  This  discrepancy  is  accounted  for  by  the  dependence 
of  those  early  navigators  on  "dead  reckoning"  for  their 
longitude,  chronometers  not  having  then  been  invented. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  Spaniards  were  the  earliest  navi- 
gators of  the  Pacific,  and  there  is  a  general  agreement  that 
Juan  Gaetano  discovered  the  group  as  early  as  i^^^. 

There  were  many  traditions  among  the  natives  of  the 
appearance  among  them  of  strange  people  previous  to  this 
date.  Among  them,  very  likely,  were  members  of  ship- 
wrecked Spanish  crews,  driven  out  of  their  course,  and 
possibly  stranded  on  those  shores.  It  is  a  matter  of 
history  that  a  Japanese  junk  with  four  men  on  board 
reached  the  island  of  Oahu  in  1823.  Other  similar  arrivals 
may  have  preceded  this.    This  fact,  of  the  drifting  of 

small  boats  for  long  distances  on  the  Pacific,  abundantly 

11 


,2  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

attested  in  recent  years  even,  is  suggestive  of  the  way  in 
which  the  islands  were  originally  peopled. 

ANCIENT  CANOE  JOURNEYS.  Nothing  is  more 
pronounced  in  the  traditions  and  meles,  or  historic  songs, 
of  the  Hawaiians  than  the  intrepid  canoe  journeys  to  and 
from  Hawaii  and  other  Pacific  islands.  Thus,  these  meles 
speak  of  lands  from  which  Hawaii-loa,  a  famous  fisher- 
man and  navigator,  sailed  to  the  east  and  discovered 
Hawaii  and  Maui,  the  two  largest  islands  of  the  Hawaiian 
group.  These  voyages  were  mainly  between  Hawaii  and 
Kahiki,  supposed  to  be  Tahiti,  a  name  which  later  came  to 
be  a  general  term  for  foreign  lands.  Alexander,  in  his 
"  History  of  the  Hawaiian  People,"  says :  "  It  is  probable 
that  those  ancient  navigators  had  large  canoes,  built  up  of 
planks  sewed  together,  and  decked  over,  in  part  at  least, 
with  capacity  to  hold  live-stock  and  stores  for  a  long 
voyage.  They  were  bold  and  expert  seamen,  inured  to 
hardship,  and  had  a  respectable  knowledge  of  the  positions 
of  the  principal  stars,  and  of  their  rising  and  setting  at 
different  times  of  -he  year.  The  fact  that  they  made  those 
journeys  is  indisputable." 

ORIGIN  OF  HAWAIIANS.  The  motive  for  these 
voyages  from  Hawaii  to  the  westward  was  undoubtedly 
linked  with  the  fact  that  it  was  from  thence  that  the  first 
settlers  of  Hawaii  came.  Pomander,  in  his  "  Polynesian 
Races,"  abundantly  demonstrates  the  racial  affinities  of  the 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  13 

aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  Pacific  islands  from  New- 
Zealand  to  Hawaii.  All  these  people  "speak  dialects  of 
the  same  language,  have  the  same  physical  features,  the 
same  manners  and  customs,  the  same  general  system  of 
tabu,  and  similar  traditions  and  religious  rites.  The  names 
of  the  principal  gods,  the  stories  told  of  the  demigod 
Maui,  of  the  origin  of  fire,  about  the  deluge,  and  many 
others,  are  common  to  all  these  islands."*  Men,  like 
Fornander,  who  have  made  a  special  comparative  study 
of  the  physical  appearance  and  language  of  the  Pacific 
islanders,  and  of  the  people  of  Madagascar,  Philippine 
Islands,  and  the  Malayan  Archipelago,  conclude  that  all 
these  allied  races  originally  came  from  southwestern  Asia. 
AN  ANCIENT  RACE.  Human  bones  have  been 
found  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  underneath  ancient  coral 
beds  and  lava  flows,  and  one  authority  has  estimated  that 
the  group  must  have  been  inhabited  as  early  as  500  A.  D. 
However  that  may  be,  it  is  known  that  the  islands  were 
densely  populated  when  first  discovered  by  white  men. 
For  a  barbarous  race  it  was  highly  organized  into  orders, 
with  a  system  of  checks,  and  with  laws  and  religious 
ceremonies,  long  anterior  to  the  advent  of  foreigners.  The 
government  was  a  feudal  one,  each  island  having  its  high 
chief,  with  subordinate  chiefs  in  every  district,  who,  in 
turn,  had  inferior  chiefs  in  every  hamlet.    These  chiefs 

*  Alexander. 


14  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

were  the  nobility,  and  in  stature  and  bearing  and  prowess 
were  tar  removed  from  the  common  people. 

THE  COMMON  PEOPLE.  The  latter  were  sub- 
divided into  castes, — canoe-builders,  and  notably  fisher- 
men, being  accorded  especial  distinction  among  the 
makaainanas  or  common  people,  who  were  at  best  mere 
tenants  subject  to  the  slightest  whims  of  their  chiefs. 
These  people  cultivated  the  land,  and  in  great  companies 
and  for  set  periods  under  command  of  the  chiefs,  built  the 
great  fish  walls  along  the  coasts,  and  the  immense  heiaus 
or  temples,  and  the  extensive  paved  roads,  all  of  which 
can  be  seen,  in  a  more  or  less  preserved  condition,  in  many 
parts  of  the  group.  When  the  taro  of  the  common  people 
was  nearly  ripe,  the  chief  would  confiscate  the  larger  part 
and  the  best  of  the  crop  by  causing  a  tabu  stick  to  be 
placed  in  the  loi  or  taro  patch.  Thereafter  it  would  be 
certain  death,  even  for  the  cultivator,  to  take  a  single  taro 
for  his  own  use.  Certain  kinds  of  taro,  notably  a  pink 
variety,  were  specially  sacred  to  the  use  of  the  chiefs. 

THE  PRIESTHOOD.  Hardly  inferior  in  rank  to  the 
chiefs,  and  certainly  no  more  merciful  toward  the  common 
people,  were  the  haughty  and  powerful  priests  whom  even 
high  chiefs  sometimes  feared,  and  always  cautiously 
regarded,  lest  they  should  come  under  their  dread  sorcery. 

The  ancient  religion  was  a  species  of  idolatry,  with 
oppressive  restrictions,  and  with  human  sacrifices-     Ha- 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  15 

waiians  peopled  the  sea  and  the  sky,  and  their  dark 
valleys,  and  the  volcanoes,  with  vindictive  and  malignant 
spirits,  who  in  the  form  of  man-eating  sharks  and  disas- 
trous volcanic  upheavals,  and  the  more  dreaded  form  of 
disease,  sought  out  their  victims  with  a  hatred  that  could  be 
placated  only  by  the  most  assiduous  and  subservient  resort 
to  the  arts  of  the  kahuna  or  priest,  whose  incantations 
served  quite  as  much  to  terrorize  the  poor  native  as  all  the 
imaginary  demi-gods  in  the  air  about  him. 

The  idols  were  hideous.  When  priests  wanted  victims 
for  sacrifice  they  went  into  ambush,  and,  deceiving  some 
passer-by  with  piteous  cries  for  help,  killed  him  when  he 
came  to  their  relief.  When  a  chief  died,  or  a  heiau  was  to 
be  consecrated,  or  a  canoe  was  to  be  built,  victims  must 
be  sacrificed,  and  the  common  people  in  abject  terror 
would  flee  to  the  woods  for  safety.  To  manifest 
mourning  for  a  dead  chief,  the  people  resorted  to  all 
manner  of  bodily  disfigurement,  knocking  out  their  front 
teeth,  shaving  one  side  of  the  face  and  head,  and  tattooing 
their  tongues  and  bodies.  "  They  threw  off  for  the  time 
all  clothing  and  all  restraints  of  decency,  and  appeared 
more  like  demons  than  human  beings.  Houses  were 
often  burned,  property  was  plundered,  revenge  taken  for 
old  forgotten  injuries,  and  a  state  of  anarchy  prevailed, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  eye-witnesses.  Even  as 
late  as  1823,  at  Keopuolani's  death,  many  natives  fled  to 


1 6  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

the  mountains,  while  others  carried  their  effects  into  the 
missionaries'  inclosures  and  begged  permission  to  remain 
there,  hoping  to  find  a  sanctuary  within  their  premises 
amidst  the  general  devastation  which  they  expected  would 
follow  her  decease." 

SYSTEM  OF  TABU.  The  tabu  system  was  a  com- 
plicated device  for  perpetuating  the  prestige  and  power  of 
the  priests.  It  has  been  well  described  as  "a  vast  net- 
work of  regulations  and  penalties."  These  penalties  were 
summary  and  extreme.  For  instance,  two  young  girls  of 
high  rank  were  seen  eating  a  banana,  which  was  forbidden 
fruit  to  women.  Thereupon  their  immediate  guardian  was 
immediately  put  to  death.  Some  penalties  were  cruel  in 
the  extreme,  as  when,  for  instance,  a  little  child  had  her  eye 
scooped  out  for  daring  to  taste  a  banana.  There  was  a 
tragically  grotesque  side  to  some  of  the  special  tabus  on 
particular  occasions.  Thus  imagine  a  pall  of  absolute 
noiselessness  over  a  village  for  twenty-four  hours,  under 
a  penalty  of  instant  death  to  any  who  uttered  a  sound; 
even  "the  dogs  had  to  be  muzzled,  and  the  fowls  were 
shut  up  in  calabashes"  or  immense  poi-bowls. 

SOCIAL  CUSTOMS.  There  were  ceremonies  in  end- 
less variety  affecting  every  incident  in  life,  except  that  of 
marriage.  Alexander  says,  "  It  is  a  significant  fact  that 
while  every  other  act  in  life  was  accompanied  with  pray- 
ers and  sacrifices  to  the  gods,  there  were  no  religious 


J.  A.  CUMMINGS.— J.  A.  Cummings,  a  large  sugar  planter,  is  a  perfect  type  of  the 
Hawaiian  half-white.  He  was  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
reign  of  King  Kalakaua,  being  dismissed  with  other  members  of  the  cabinet  when 
Liiiuokalani  became  Queen. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  19 

ceremonies  connected  with  marriage.  Not  even  the  favor 
of  the  aumakuas  (spirits  of  departed  ancestors)  was  in- 
voked. It  was  entered  upon  with  less  ceremony  than 
fishing  or  planting."  "A  fisherman  could  not  use  a  new 
net  or  fishing-rod  without  prayer  and  sacrifice  to  his 
patron  god."  But  the  relation  most  vitally  affecting  the 
life  of  any  race,  was  so  lightly  regarded  as  to  be  more  than 
suggestive  of  the  cause  of  the  loss  of  national  virility. 
Thus  ''the  husband  could  dismiss  his  wife  without  any 
ceremony.  Polygamy  was  allowed  in  all  ranks,  but  prac- 
ticed mostly  by  the  chiefs.  The  state  of  society  will  not 
bear  description."  "  Infanticide  was  fearfully  prevalent, 
and  there  were  few  of  the  older  women  at  the  date  of  the 
abolition  of  idolatiy  who  had  not  been  guilty  of  it.  It  was 
the  opinion  of  those  best  informed  that  two-thirds  of  all 
the  children  born  were  destroyed  in  infancy  by  their 
parents.  They  were  generally  buried  alive,  in  many  cases 
in  the  very  houses  occupied  by  their  unnatural  parents. 
On  all  the  islands  the  number  of  males  was  much  greater 
than  that  of  females,  in  consequence  of  the  giris  being 
more  frequently  destroyed  than  the  boys.  Among  the 
common  people  old  age  was  despised.  The  sick  and 
those  who  had  become  helpless  from  age  were  sometimes 
abandoned  to  die  or  were  put  to  death.  Insane  people 
were  also  sometimes  stoned  to  death." 

FUTURE  LIFE.    While  a  certain  element  of  vagueness 


20  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

characterized  their  conception  of  a  future  life,  the 
Hawaiians  recognized  a  distinction  in  the  lot  of  the  dead, 
l^hus  the  lower  world,  into  which  the  spirits  of  men  were 
supposed  to  leap  at  death,  "  was  divided  into  distinct  king- 
doms, the  upper  one  ruled  by  Wakea,  and  the  lower  by 
Milu.  The  region  of  Wakea,  the  ancestor  of  the  race,  was 
a  quiet  and  peaceful  realm  of  comparative  comfort, 
reserved  for  the  select  few.  Wakea  was  possessed  of 
higher  tabus  and  greater  power  than  Milu,  and  only  ad- 
mitted those  who  had  been  scrupulous  in  observing  the 
religious  rites  and  tabus  during  life.  Milu  was  said  to 
have  been  an  ancient  chief  of  Hamakua,  Hawaii,  notorious 
for  his  wickedness  during  life,  who  afterwards  became 
king  of  a  realm  of  darkness  and  misery,  below  that  of 
Wakea,  to  which  the  great  majority  of  the  dead  were 
destined.  Their  food  consisted  of  lizards  and  butterflies, 
but  there  were  streams  of  water  of  which  they  could 
drink,  and  spreading  kou  trees  beneath  which  they  re- 
clined. Milu's  province  was  also  said  to  be  a  noisy  and 
disorderly  place,  where  lawless  akuas  kept  up  wild  games 
all  night." 

With  a  finer  national  spirit,  like  the  poetic  conceptions 
of  the  North  American  Indians  of  the  happy  hunting 
grounds,  some  of  the  traditions  allied  the  more  heroic 
spirit  and  feats  of  the  race  to  the  conditions  of  existence 
after  death.    Thus  their  noble  chiefs  were  conducted  by 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  21 

one  of  the  gods  to  a  heaven  in  or  beyond  the  clouds. 
Some  said  the  souls  of  heroes  went  to  "  the  hidden  land 
of  Kane,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  sort  of  Fata 
Morgana  or  fairy  island  in  the  west.  It  was  said  that 
mariners  sometimes  saw  in  the  distance  a  beautiful  island 
abounding  in  cocoanut  trees,  but  it  was  all  unsubstantial 
and  ghostly,  and  receded  before  them,  like  the  mirage  of 
the  desert." 

BONES  OF  THE  CHIEFS.  "The  deified  bones  of 
the  chiefs,"  writes  Alexander,  "were  generally  carefully 
concealed  in  the  most  secret  and  inaccessible  caves. 
Before  death  they  made  their  most  trusty  attendants 
swear  to  conceal  their  bones  so  that  no  one  could  ever  find 
them.  '  I  do  not  wish,'  said  a  dying  chief,  *  that  my  bones 
should  be  made  into  arrows  to  shoot  mice  with  (a  favorite 
pastime  of  the  chiefs)  or  into  fish-hooks.'  " 

There  is  a  legend  that  after  the  death  of  Pae,  an  ancient 
chief  in  the  famous  Waipio  valley,  his  devoted  servants,  in 
accordance  with  his  request,  took  his  bones  secretly  to  a 
small  cave  in  the  perpendicular  face  of  the  precipice,  and 
just  under  the  waters  of  the  Hiilawe  Falls,  which  leap 
from  this  point  1700  feet  into  the  valley  below.  There 
they  felt  that  the  precious  bones  were  safe,  as  only  two  of 
them  knew  of  the  place.  One  day,  while  looking  at 
the  rushing  waters,  a  famous  magician  suddenly  turned  to 
the  King  at  his  side,  saying,  "I  see  two  young  men  passing 


22  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

and  re-passing  through  the  Hiilawe  waters,  and  the  rain- 
bow above  shows  they  are  aliis."  The  King  ridiculed  the 
idea,  but  some  days  after  the  same  magician,  standing 
with  the  King,  said,  "There  are  the  chiefs  again  in  the 
Hiilawe  waters."  Then  the  King  sent  his  most  sure- 
footed mountaineers  with  ropes  to  examine  the  place,  with 
the  result  that  the  cave  was  found,  together  with  the 
skeleton  of  Pae,  wrapped  in  his  feather  cloak,  and  the 
skeleton  of  one  of  his  faithful  attendants  who  had  been 
killed,  that  his  chief  might  have  company  to  the  other 
wodd. 

Out  of  the  thigh  bone  of  Pae  a  large  hook  for  deep 
sea  fishing  was  made,  which  is  now  in  the  Museum  at 
Honolulu.  "  It  was  an  extremely  lucky  hook,"  writes 
Mrs.  Nakuina,  an  authority  in  Hawaiian  folk  lore,  "  and 
seemed  to  have  a  kind  of  power  to  attract  fish.  Battles 
have  been  fought,  lost  and  gained  for  the  possession  of 
this  hook." 

SORCERY.  Hawaiians  were  the  victims  of  a  most 
cruel  and  depressing  system  of  sorcery.  It  is  doubt- 
ful whether  all  the  evils  connected  with  the  tabu  and 
ceremonial  system  combined  were  as  pernicious  and  en- 
slaving as  the  thraldom  placed  on  the  common  people  by 
the  sorcerers.  They  were  feared  and  hated,  and  were 
sometimes  stoned  to  death  or  beheaded  by  order  of  a 
chief.    The  anaana  sorcerer  was  able  to  pray  a  person  to 


DOOMED  TO  DEATH.  This  picture  illustrates  a  ver^^  thrilliugepisodr  in  Hawaiiau 
history.  When  the  great  Kamehanieha  was  gaining  by  conquest  and  strategy  the 
control  of  all  the  smaller  tribes  and  nations,  he  induced  a  brilliant  young  prince  of 
Oahau  to  betray  his  people  into  surrender,  upon  discovery  of  Avhich  the  young 
prince  was  sentenced  to  death,  and  the  picture  represents  him  giving  his  last  counsel 
and  instructions  to  his  sister  Ijefore  his  execution. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  25 

deatn.  "  In  order  to  effect  his  purpose,  it  was  absolutely 
essential  for  him  to  secure  something  connected  with  the 
person  of  the  intended  victim,  as  the  parings  of  the  nails, 
a  lock  of  the  hair,  etc.,  which  was  termed  the  maunu  or 
bail.  For  this  reason  the  chiefs  always  kept  their  most 
faithful  servants  around  them,  who  carefully  buried  or 
burned  every  thing  of  the  kind  or  sunk  it  out  at  sea." 
Secretly  but  subtly  this  anaana  type  of  sorcery  is  still 
practiced  among  Hawaiians.  So  great  is  the  fear  of  the 
Kahuna,  who  is  supposed  to  possess  this  power,  that  more 
or  less  intelligent  natives,  while  under  the  medical  care  of 
the  best  physicians  of  Honolulu,  will  surreptitiously  call  in 
the  Kahuna  and  submit  to  his  incantations  to  break  the 
spell  that  they  imagine  themselves  to  be  under.  The 
medical  fraternity,  who  come  constantly  into  contact  with 
this  survival  of  heathenish  superstition,  agree  that  the 
Kahunas  are  largely  responsible  for  the  high  death  rate 
among  Hawaiians.  Speaking  of  the  effect  on  the  people, 
Alexander  says,  "  The  sorcerer  sometimes  used  poison  to 
accomplish  his  ends,  but  the  power  of  imagination  and  of 
superstitious  fear  was  often  sufficient  to  make  the  victimi 
give  up  all  hope  and  to  pine  away  till  he  died."  . 

DISASTROUS  WARS.  For  three  hundred  years  pre- 
vious to  the  coming  of  Capt.  Cook,  in  the  language  of 
Judge  Fornander,  a  careful  student  of  that  period,  there 
"  was  an  era  of  strife,  dynastic  ambitions,  internal  and  ex- 


26  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

ternal  wars  on  each  island,  with  all  their  deteriorating  con- 
sequences of  anarchy,  depopulation,  social  and  intellectual 
degradation,  loss  of  liberty,  loss  of  knowledge,  loss  of 
arts."  The  forces  that  had  been  fostered  by  a  cruel  and 
licentious  and  degrading  barbarism  were  sapping  the 
vitality  of  the  race.  The  rapid  decline  in  virility  and 
number  had  set  in,  and  even  the  beneficent  forces  of  a 
Christian  civilization,  fifty  years  later,  seemed  almost 
powerless  to  stay  the  momentum.  This  period  closes 
with  a  burst  of  heroism  that  was  at  the  same  time  a 
dismal  prophecy  of  the  future  of  the  race.  The  famous 
battle  of  the  sand-hills  near  Wailuku,  Maui,  was  like  a 
Thermopylae  to  that  proud  and  superior  race  who  formed 
the  real  nobility  of  the  land.  When  Kalaniopuu  sent  his 
picked  regiment  of  noble  chiefs,  the  famous  Alapa,  stal- 
wart, unflinching  heroes  every  man  of  them,  with  spears 
set,  across  the  sand-hills  to  meet  the  chiefs  of  Maui  in 
open  combat,  he  unintentionally  struck  a  death-blow  to 
his  race.  These  men  were  the  physical  and  intellectual 
leaders  of  a  nation  that  needed  every  one  of  them  in  its 
struggle  to  survive.  Their  brawn  and  brain  and  vitality 
typified  the  enduring  forces  in  an  otherwise  shattered  and 
enfeebled  race.  As  they  march  in  perfect  discipline  over 
those  fateful  plains,  the  flower  of  the  land,  their  enemies 
rise  about  them  in  ambush  in  overpowering  numbers,  and 
leave  not  a  man  alive  to  tell  the  tale  of   their  heroic 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  27 

struggle.  It  was  a  tine  example  of  heroism,  but  at  what 
awful  cost  to  the  physical  stamina  and  fioer  of  an  already 
stricken  race. 

COOK'S  DISCOVERY.  To  Capt.  Cook  belongs  the 
credit  of  the  discovery  of  the  islands  in  the  sense  that  it 
was  he  who  first  made  them  known  to  the  world.  His 
tragic  death  drew  the  attention  of  the  English-speaking  race. 
Before  his  arrival  at  the  islands  in  1778,  this  group  was 
the  loneliest  bit  of  land  in  all  the  great  oceans.  It  was  out 
of  the  course  taken  by  navigators  in  the  Pacific,  and  it  was 
by  the  merest  accident  that  in  setting  sail  from  the  Society 
Islands,  2^00  miles  to  the  south  of  Hawaii,  on  his  way  to 
discover  a  northern  passage  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean,  sailing  almost  due  north,  on  January  18,  1778,  he 
discovered  the  island  of  Oahu.  So  far  as  proximity  to 
any  other  land  in  the  North  Pacific  is  concerned,  Hawaii 
will  always  maintain  its  unique  loneliness,  for  it  is  the 
only  land  between  America  and  Asia  north  of  latitude  20° 
and  south  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  is  from  1200  to 
1800  miles  from  the  nearest  groups  to  the  south,  and  more 
than  2200  miles  from  the  Samoan  Islands,  the  nearest 
group  of  importance. 

PROXIMITY  TO  AMERICA.  From  San  Francisco,  as 
a  centre,  let  a  thread  representing  2080  miles  be  swung  on 
a  map  as  in  drawing  a  circle,  and  it  will  strike  Honolulu, 
the  capital  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  on  the  south-west; 


28  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

the  Alaska  peninsula  on  the  north-west;  the  Mississippi 
River  on  the  east;  the  city  of  Houston,  Texas,  on 
the  south-east ;  and  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  Mexico, 
on  the  south.  These  facts  reveal  the  proximity  of 
Hawaii  to  the  American  coast,  showing,  as  they  do,  that 
Chicago  and  the  Nicaragua  Canal  that  is  to  be,  are  more 
distant  from  San  Francisco  than  Hawaii  is.  One  can  sail 
1^00  miles  due  west  from  Honolulu,  three  times  the 
distance  from  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  to  Chicago,  and  thence 
following  a  great  circle  sail  due  north  and  arrive  at  United 
States  territory  in  Alaska.  And  in  all  that  distance  there  is 
no  other  land,  but  rather  only  a  vast  ocean  already  teeming 
with  a  commerce  that  is  only  a  prophecy  of  what  is  to  be. 
This  comparative  proximity  to  our  own  coast,  in  the  cir- 
cumstances, lends  additional  weight  to  the  words  of  that 
far-seeing  statesman,  Wm.  H.  Seward,  who  in  the  United 
States  Senate  in  i8p  said,  "The  Pacific  Ocean,  its  shores, 
its  islands,  and  the  vast  region  beyond  will  become  the 
chief  theater  of  events  in  the  world's  great  hereafter."  In 
the  furtherance  and  protection  of  commerce,  contiguous 
territory  is  less  advantageous  than  land  that  is  reasonably 
proximate  while  yet  out  on  the  ocean's  highways.  That 
Hawaii  would  constitute  a  most  important  American  out- 
port  in  the  growing  commerce  of  the  Pacific  can  not  be 
doubted  on  geographical  considerations  alone. 

SIZE  OF  THE  GROUP.    There  are  eight  inhabited 


ALONG  THE  WAiLUKU  kiVHK.— It  is  difficult  to  imagine  any  scenery 
more  lovely  than  that  which  bo'-ders  the  Wailuku  River  on  the  island  of 
Hawaii.  Starting  en  the  slopes  of  Mauna  Kea,  sometimes  dashing  in  foam- 
ing cataracts  over  cliffs  more  than  a  hundred  feet  in  height. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  31 

islands,  viz.,  Hawaii,  Maui,  Kahoolawe,  Lanai,  Molokai, 
Oahu,  Kauai,  and  Niihau,  comprising  an  area  of  6,700 
square  miles,  or  about  ^00  square  miles  greater  than  the 
combined  areas  of  the  States  of  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut. They  extend  from  northwest  to  southeast  over 
a  distance  of  about  three  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  or 
about  the  distance  from  Rochester  to  New  York  City. 
The  largest  island  is  Hawaii,  which  has  given  its  name  to 
the  group.  The  various  islands  are  separated  by  channels 
varying  in  width  from  six  to  sixty  miles.  Now  there  has 
grown  up  an  extensive  system  of  inter-island  steamers 
numbering  over  twenty  in  1891,  fitted  up  with  dynamos 
for  electric  lighting,  and  several  of  them  having  superior 
accommodations  for  the  growing  passenger  traffic.  For- 
merly the  only  means  of  communication  was  by  canoes,  an 
actual  incident  having  occurred  to  illustrate  this  less  than 
two  years  ago ;  when  a  member,  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy  in 
the  legislature,  not  being  content  to  wait  for  the  steamer  in 
his  eagerness  to  take  his  seat,  hired  men  to  row  him  in  a 
canoe  from  Hilo,  Hawaii,  to  Honolulu,  a  distance  of  over 
200  miles  1 

CAPT.  COOK'S  DEATH.  The  verdict  of  the  later 
historians,  being  possessed  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case, 
seems  to  be  that  Cook  courted  his  death  by  his  abuse  of 
the  hospitality  of  the  natives.  They  brought  to  him  every 
day  "  a  liberal  supply  of  hogs  and  vegetables,  while  several 


32  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

canoe-loads  of  provisions  were  daily  sent  to  the  ships,  for 
which  no  return  was  ever  made."  Instead,  "the  violations 
of  tabu  and  the  abandoned  conduct  of  their  guests  were 
such  as  to  disgust  even  heathens,  while  the  lavish  con- 
tributions levied  upon  the  people  for  their  support  began 
to  be  felt  as  a  heavy  burden."  The  breach  widened 
when  Cook,  needing  fuel,  allowed  his  men  to  take  the 
fence  around  one  of  the  heiaus,  which  was  carried  aboard 
together  with  twelve  idols  from  the  temple,  despite  the 
protestations  of  the  priests.  The  natives  retaliated  by 
stealing  a  boat,  and  frequent  collisions  occurred,  not  only 
embittering  the  natives,  but  resulting,  finally,  in  the  un- 
provoked killing  of  a  chief,  which  so  infuriated  some  of  the 
chiefs  and  their  followers  that  an  attack  was  immediately 
made  on  Cook  and  some  of  his  men,  who  were  on  shore, 
causing  Cook's  death  and  that  of  four  of  his  men,  and  the 
loss  of  seventeen  lives  by  the  natives,  five  of  whom  were 
chiefs. 

WORSHIPPED  AS  A  GOD.  Whatever  may  be  said 
of  Cook's  record  elsewhere,  it  is  indisputable  that  he 
knowingly  accepted  oblations  and  worship  from  the  sim- 
ple natives  of  Kalakekua  Bay,  who  deemed  him  to  be 
an  incarnation  of  their  god  Lono.  Writes  Jarves :  "  He 
moved  among  them  an  earthly  deity,  observed,  feared, 
and  worshipped.  In  mere  courtesy  even  he  seems  to 
have  been  outdone  by  the  untutored  savage,  for  when. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  33 

with  great  formality,  the  king,  on  one  occasion,  placed 
his  own  magnificent  feather  cloak  upon  Cook's  shoulders, 
and  a  feather  helmet  on  his  head,  and  laid  five  or  six 
other  beautiful  cloaks  at  his  feet.  Cook,  in  response  to 
this  royal  expression  of  regard  and  good-will,  took  the 
king's  party  aboard  his  vessel,  and  presented  the  noble 
chief  with  a  linen  shirt  and  a  cutlass!  To  be  sure, 
Cook  left  seeds  of  melons,  and  pumpkins,  and  onions 
at  Niihau,  but  his  men  "left  behind  them  diseases  un- 
known before,  which  spread  through  the  group,  causing 
misery  and  death  to  the  people." 

VANCOUVER'S  VISITS.  Of  quite  another  stamp 
was  the  benevolent  and  judicious  Vancouver,  who  visited 
the  islands  twelve  years  after  the  death  of  Cook.  He 
refused  to  sell  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  natives,  being 
"struck  with  the  evidence  of  the  decrease  in  population, 
and  with  the  insatiable  desire  of  the  natives  to  obtain 
fire-arms."  He  used  his  good  offices  in  reconciling  Kame- 
hameha  to  his  favorite  queen,  and  sought  to  allay  .the 
strife  between  Kamehameha  and  Kahekili,  king  of  Maui. 
He  landed  sheep  and  cattle  and  had  a  tabu  laid  on  them 
for  ten  years,  so  as  to  promote  their  increase.  He  intro- 
duced orange  trees  and  grape  vines  and  other  useful 
plants  and  seeds,  and  gave  Kamehameha,  so  soon  to  be 
the  head  of  the  nation,  "much  valuable  advice  in  regard 
to  his  intercourse  with  foreigners,  the  management  of  his 


34  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

kingdom,  the  discipline  of  his  troops,  etc.  He  also  told 
him  of  the  one  true  God,  Creator  and  Governor  of  all  the 
world,  that  their  tabu  system  was  wrong,  and  that  he 
would  ask  the  king  of  England  to  send  him  a  teacher  of 
the  true  religion." 

BRITISH  PROTECTORATE.  As  of  current  interest, 
I  quote  from  Alexander's  History  of  the  Hawaiian  Peo- 
ple: "On  the  2ist  of  February,  1794,  a  grand  council  of 
the  chiefs  was  held  on  board  of  the  'Discovery,'  for  the 
purpose  of  placing  Hawaii  under  the  protection  of  Great 
Britain.  They  reserved,  however,  the  right  to  regulate 
all  their  own  internal  affairs.  On  the  2^th  Lieut.  Puget 
hoisted  the  British  flag  on  shore,  and  took  possession  of 
Hawaii  in  the  name  of  his  Britannic  Majesty.  A  salute  was 
then  fired,  and  the  natives  shouted,  '  Kanaka  no  Beritano ' 
('We  are  men  of  Britain ')."  This  cession  was  never  rati- 
fied by  the  Home  Government,  but  the  transaction  was  a 
noteworthy  one,  as  indicating  both  a  love  for  independ- 
ence, and  a  desire  for  the  support  of  a  strong  nation. 

KAMEHAMEHA  THE  GREAT.  It  is  doubtful,  all 
things  considered,  whether  any  other  savage  race  ever 
produced  a  man  of  such  prowess  in  war,  and  of  such 
statesmanship  and  rare  judgment  in  the  art  of  govern- 
ment in  time  of  peace.  Kamehameha  was  the  last  of 
those  ancient  feudal  chiefs  who,  by  reason  of  physical  and 
intellectual  superiority,  were  born  to  lead  their  people. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  35 

Before  his  conquest  of  the  group  was  complete,  there 
were  left  but  a  mere  handful  of  those  shrewd  and  power- 
ful chiefs  whose  deeds  are  the  boast  of  Hawaiians;  and 
before  his  death  even  these  had  passed  away,  and  he  was 
left  alone,  a  fact  in  keeping  with  the  native  signification  of 
his  name,  viz.,  "The  lone  or  solitary  one."  He  was  born 
and  bred  amid  the  shouts  of  war,  and  is  supposed  to 
have  been  present  at  the  death  of  Capt.  Cook,  and  also  to 
have  been  among  the  reserves  when  that  fatal  yet  famous 
charge  of  the  Alapa  was  made  over  the  sand-hills  of 
Wailuku. 

HIS  ENTERPRISE.  Nothmg  commends  this  great 
man  more  than  his  spirit  of  enterprise  in  the  arts  of  peace. 
Thus,  before  he  actively  entered  on  his  career  of  conquest, 
he  spent  several  years  "  in  quietly  cultivating  and  improv- 
ing his  lands,  building  canoes,  and  fishing.  Several  of  his 
public  works  are  still  to  be  seen,  such  as  a  tunnel  by 
which  a  water-course  is  carried  through  a  ridge  of  rock  in 
Niulii,  besides  a  canoe  landing  in  Halaula,  a  fishpond,  etc." 
After  his  conquest  of  the  other  islands,  "  he  exerted  him- 
self to  promote  agriculture,  to  encourage  industry,  and  thus 
to  repair  the  ravages  of  his  wars."  Later  in  his  reign 
"  there  was  a  famine  in  Hawaii,  caused  by  the  neglect  of 
agriculture  while  the  people  had  been  forced  to  spend 
their  time  in  cutting  sandal-wood  for  the  chiefs.  Kame- 
hameha  set  his  retinue  to  work  in  planting  the  ground, 


3^  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

and  also  set  an  example  of  industry  himself.  The  piece 
of  ground  which  he  tilled  is  still  pointed  out.  As  an 
illustration  of  his  foresight,  it  is  said  that  he  forbade  the 
cutting  of  young  sandal-wood,  and  instructed  his  bird- 
catchers  not  to  strangle  the  birds  from  which  they  plucked 
the  choice  yellow  feathers  for  royal  cloaks,  but  to  set  them 
free,  that  other  feathers  might  grow  in  their  place." 

HIS  PERSONAL  PROWESS.  What  Kamehameha 
was  in  actual  conflict  we  never  shall  know,  except  that  he 
was  greatly  feared  in  battle,  and  wherever  he  moved 
rallied  men  to  renewed  attack.  "Vancouver  relates  that 
in  a  sham  fight  he  saw  six  spears  cast  at  once  at  Kame- 
hameha I.,  of  which  he  caught  three,  parried  two,  and 
avoided  the  sixth  by  a  quick  movement  of  his  body." 
Doubtless  this  skill  in  warfare  accounts  for  his  survival 
when  so  many  who  fought  at  his  side  fell  victims  to  the 
spears  of  the  enemy. 

HIS  CONQUEST  OF  THE  GROUP.  Having  sub- 
dued his  rivals  on  his  own  island  of  Hawaii,  with  a  great 
armada  of  war-canoes  he  easily  subdued  Maui  and  Molo- 
kai,  and  thence  proceeded  to  the  subjugation  of  Oahu. 
A  tradition  reports  his  army  as  numbering  16,000  men. 
During  the  voyage  to  Oahu,  Kaiana,  a  noted  chief,  through 
affront  at  not  being  invited  to  a  council  of  war,  separated 
himself  from  Kamehameha's  forces,  landed  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  island,  and  joined  the  forces  of  Kalanikupule, 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  ^ 

the  king  of  Oahu.  Kaiana  was  made  the  leader  of  the 
Oahu  forces  in  the  battle  the  next  day,  but  when  he  was 
killed  by  a  cannon-ball,  his  troops,  though  making  a  brave 
resistance,  retreated  up  the  Nuuanu  Valley.  They  were 
hotly  pursued,  the  howitzers  that  Kamehameha  had  se- 
cured from  foreign  vessels  making  havoc  among  the  re- 
treating forces.  Some  climbed  up  the  ridges  on  either  side 
and  escaped,  while  others  were  driven  headlong  over  the 
precipice  to  the  rocks,  1 200  feet  below.  Kamehameha  was 
not  merciful  in  the  day  of  battle.  He  was  in  all  respects 
a  genuine  heathen  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  gained 
control  of  his  own  island  by  a  treacherous  slaughter  of  a 
rival  chief  who  had  been  invited  by  Kamehameha  to  a 
friendly  conference.  In  the  sanguinary  battle  in  lao  val- 
ley, five  years  before  the  conquest  of  Oahu,  Kamehameha 
showed  no  quarter,  and  the  Maui  warriors,  struck  with  ter- 
ror at  the  deadly  fusillade  of  the  two  field-pieces  managed 
by  white  men  in  Kamehameha's  army,  were  driven  over 
precipices  and  chased  to  the  high  peaks  and  crags  of  the 
mountain,  where  they  were  starved  into  surrender.  It 
was  said  that  the  stream  in  the  valley  was  choked  with 
corpses  of  the  slain,  whence  the  battle  was  called,  "  Ke- 
paniwai "  (the  damming  of  the  waters). 

CENTRALIZING  POLICY.  In  subduing  the  kings  of 
the  various  islands,  Kamehameha  confiscated  all  the  lands, 
dividing  them  among  his  friends  as  suited  his  whim.    The 


J 


S  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 


king  of  Kauai,  who  sought  peace  with  Kamehameha  by 
the  cession  of  his  island,  was  permitted  to  retain  his  lands, 
holding  them  in  fief  during  his  lifetime  on  condition  that 
Kamehameha's  son  should  inherit  them. 

DISTILLING  RUM.  "The  art  of  distilling  rum  was 
introduced  by  some  Botany  Bay  convicts  before  the  year 
1800."  The  mascerated  roots  of  the  Ki  plant  were  al- 
lowed to  ferment  in  water,  and  when  distilled,  the  liquor 
called  Okolehao,  was  almost  pure  alcohol.  The  chiefs  all 
had  their  stills,  very  primitive,  to  be  sure,  and  drunkenness 
became  prevalent.  Kamehameha  at  first  drank  to  excess, 
but  later  abandoned  it  altogether.  "  Near  the  end  of  his 
life  he  summoned  all  the  leading  men  of  Hawaii  to  a 
great  assembly  at  Kailua,  at  which  he  ordered  all  the  stills 
to  be  destroyed,  and  forbade  the  manufacture  of  any  kind 
of  liquor." 

HIS  DEATH.  When  the  priests  wanted  human  sac- 
rifices in  his  last  illness,  so  that  the  gods  would  prolong 
his  life,  he  refused  his  consent.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
eighty-two  years,  in  18 19.  After  his  death,  "according  to 
custom,  all  law  was  suspended,  and  all  restraints  taken 
away.    The  conduct  of  the  people  forbids  description." 

IDOLATRY  ABOLISHED.  The  turmoil  and  restless- 
ness induced  by  almost  continuous  warfare  during  a 
period  of  three  hundred  years,  had  a  demoralizing  effect 
on  the  faith  of  the  Hawaiians  in  their  ancient  institutions 


■«'v*^75PC  r     '  ■^  ^  *l    V      •SB 


^.    '^Jt_ 


MAUSOLEUM  OF  LUNALILO.  Luiuililo  wa.s  the  last,  wlio  claiiufil  ilcsecul  iVuiu 
the  Kaniehamehas,  to  rule  in  Hawaii.  He  was  called  ths  "Well  Beloved"  by  his  peo- 
ple. The  Lunalilo  Mausoleum  stands  near  the  entrance  of  the  Kawaihao  Church. 
The  grounds  are  always  tilled  with  e.Kquisite  flowers,  lovingly  cared  for  by  the  natives. 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  41 

of  idolatry  and  the  tabu  system.  The  turpitude  of  white 
men  in  their  disregard  of  sacred  things,  and  their  appar- 
ent exemption  from  harm  and  penalty  of  any  kind,  shook 
the  faith  of  natives  in  the  existence  and  power  of  their 
gods.  The  unfaltering  allegiance  of  Kamehameha  to  the 
gods  of  his  fathers,  united  to  his  controlling  will  in  all 
national  affairs,  was  probably  all  that  kept  the  system 
from  crumbling  sooner.  Be  that  as  it  may,  no  sooner 
was  his  son  Lilioliho  well  seated  on  the  throne,  than  he 
himself  in  a  drunken  carousal  violated  the  tabu,  and  the 
system  already  tottering,  crumbled  to  pieces  with  its  own 
weight.  Excesses  of  all  kinds  followed  as  a  natural  result. 
The  stern  repressions  and  complicated  ceremonies  being 
abolished,  with  nothing  but  the  personal  will  of  a  dissi- 
pated King  as  a  substitute,  the  people  carried  their  liberty 
into  license,  and  another  element  was  set  at  work  to 
hasten  the  decrease  of  the  race. 

COMING  OF  THE  MISSIONARIES.  The  effect  of 
the  breaking  down  of  the  tabu  system  and  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  idols  was  to  leave  the  people  without  any 
religion.  Had  not  a  new  force  come  to  the  nation  from 
outside  at  this  juncture  it  is  altogether  probable  that  there 
would  have  been  a  return  to  idolatry,  but  with  larger  lati- 
tude to  the  individual  in  the  very  directions  most  harmful 
to  the  longevity  of  the  race.  The  missionaries  from 
America  arrived  at  this  critical  period  and  brought  the 


42  HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 

gospel  of  glad  tidings  for  the  salvation  of  the  people.  The 
old  religion  having  come  under  the  condemnation  of  the 
nation,  and  been  cast  aside  as  worse  than  useless,  the 
providence  of  God  brings  to  the  shores  of  the  emancipated 
people,  in  the  persons  of  the  American  missionaries,  a 
religion  of  hope  and  life  and  spiritual  power  to  take  its 
place.  The  same  month  of  the  year,  October,  1819,  that 
idolatry  was  abolished,  the  first  missionaries,  Messrs. 
Bingham  and  Thurston,  set  sail  from  Boston  for  the  voy- 
age around  Cape  Horn.  "  Probably  none  of  you  will 
live  to  witness  the  downfall  of  idolatry,"  was  one  of  the 
last  words  said  to  them  previous  to  their  embarking  for 
the  long  journey.  Imagine  the  startling  effect  on  these 
men,  five  months  later,  as  they  anchored  off  Kailua  Bay, 
when  Hopu,  their  Hawaiian  companion,  who  had  been 
carried  away  on  a  whaler,  and  been  educated  in  New 
England,  and  was  now  to  act  as  their  interpreter,  brought 
the  tidings  from  shore,  "  Hawaii's  idols  are  no  more." 

"The  first  pupils  of  the  missionaries,"  writes  Alexan- 
der, "were  the  chiefs  and  their  favorite  attendants,  and 
the  wives  and  children  (half  castes)  of  foreigners.  At 
first  their  teaching  was  entirely  in  English,  but  by  degrees 
they  devoted  their  time  and  energies  more  and  more  to 
the  task  of  mastering  the  Hawaiian  language,  and  of 
reducing  it  to  writing,  until  the>  made  it  their  chief  me- 
dium of  instruction." 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  43 

DESTRUCTION  OF  IDOLS.  In  1822,  Kaahumanu, 
Kamehameha's  favorite  queen,  conducted  a  crusade  against 
the  old  religion,  from  what  motive,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
say,  and  as  a  result  "  Kamehameha's  poison-god,  Kalai- 
pahoa  was  burned  at  Hilo,  and  at  Kailua,  one  hun- 
dred and  two  idols,  collected  from  various  hiding  places, 
were  consumed  in  one  bonfire.  Feasting,  dancing,  and 
revelry  went  on  together  with  the  burning  of  idols."  It 
was  not  until  three  years  after  this  that  Kaahumanu  was 
converted  to  the  Christian  religion. 

KAPIOLANI'S  HEROISM.  "  Kapiolani,"  writes  Alex- 
ander, "was  one  of  the  noblest  characters  of  her  time. 
Though  at  one  time  intemperate  and  dissolute,  Kapiolani 
became  an  example  to  her  countrywomen  of  virtue  and 
refinement,  and  excelled  them  all  in  the  readiness  with 
which  she  adopted  civilized  habits  and  sentiments.  In 
December,  1824,  she  determined  to  break  the  spell  of  the 
belief  in  Pele,  the  dread  goddess  of  the  volcano.  In  spite 
of  the  strenuous  opposition  of  her  friends,  and  even  of 
her  husband,  she  made  a  journey  of  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  mostly  on  foot,  from  Kealakekua  to  Hilo, 
visiting  the  great  crater  of  Kilauea  on  her  way,  in  order  to 
defy  the  wrath  of  Pele,  and  to  prove  that  no  such  being 
existed.  On  approaching  the  volcano,  she  met  the  priest- 
ess of  Pele,  who  warned  her  not  to  go  near  the  crater, 
and  predicted  her  death  if  she  violated  the  tabus  of  the 


44  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

goddess.  *  Who  are  you  ? '  demanded  Kapiolani.  *  One  in 
whom  the  goddess  dwells,'  she  replied.  Then  Kapiolani 
quoted  passages  from  the  Scriptures,  setting  forth  the  char- 
acter and  power  of  the  true  God,  until  the  priestess  was 
silenced,  and  confessed  that  the  akua  or  deity  had  left  her. 
Kapiolani  then  went  forward  to  the  crater,  where,  in  full  view 
of  the  grand  and  terrific  action  of  the  inner  crater,  she  ate 
the  berries  consecrated  to  Pele,  and  threw  stones  into  the 
burning  lake,  saying :  *  Jehovah  is  my  God.  He  kindleth 
these  fires.  I  fear  not  Pele.  If  I  perish  by  her  anger,, 
then  you  may  fear  Pele ;  but  if  I  trust  in  Jehovah,  and  he 
preserves  me  when  breaking  her  tabus,  then  you  must 
fear  and  serve  him  alone.'  They  then  united  in  singing 
a  hymn  of  praise  to  the  true  God,  and  knelt  in  adoration 
to  the  Creator  and  Governor  of  the  universe."  This  has 
been  well  called  "  one  of  the  greatest  acts  of  moral  cour- 
age ever  performed." 

MISSIONARY  SUCCESS.  Eight  years  after  their  land- 
ing, the  missionaries  numbered  thirty-two,  having  440 
native  assistants,  12,000  church  attendants,  and  26,000 
pupils  in  the  various  schools.  Some  of  the  leading  chiefs 
were  the  most  efficient  co-workers  with  the  missionaries 
in  arousing  a  great  national  interest  in  Christian  truth. 

The  wanton  and  disgraceful  conduct  of  officers  and 
men  of  English  and  American  vessels  was  the  darkest 
incident    in    this  transition   period   of  abandonment   of 


HISTORICAL   SKETCH.  47 

heathenism  and  acceptance  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Maddened  by  the  restraints  put  upon  them  by  the  au- 
thorities, thus  preventing  the  accomplishment  of  their 
lusts,  these  infamous  men  resorted  to  threats  and  vio- 
lence, and  on  several  occasions  the  lives  of  missionaries 
were  saved  only  by  the  opportune  and  forcible  inter- 
vention of  the  natives. 

The  great  revival  of  1838-^9  is  memorable  in  the 
annals  of  missionary  effort,  writes  Dr.  Bartlett  of  that 
remarkable  awakening:  "There  were  congregations  of 
four,  five  and  six  thousand  persons.  The  missionaries 
preached  from  seven  to  twenty  times  a  week,  and  a 
sense  of  guilt  in  the  hearers  often  broke  forth  in  groans 
and  loud  cries.  Probably  many  indiscretions  were  com- 
mitted, and  there  were  many  spurious  conversions.  But, 
after  all  allowances,  time  showed  that  a  wonderful  work 
was  wrought.  During  the  six  years  from  1838  to  1843 
inclusive,  twenty-seven  thousand  persons  were  admitted 
to  the  churches.  The  next  twenty  years  added  more 
than  20,000  other  members  to  the  churches,  making  the 
whole  number  received  up  to  1863  some  ^0,000  souls. 
Many  of  these  had  then  been  excommunicated,  in  some 
instances,  it  was  thought,  too  hastily;  many  thousands 
had  gone  home  to  heaven;  and  in  1863,  some  20,000 
stili  survived  in  connection  with  the  churches.  At  length 
came  the  time  when  the  islands  were  to  be  recognized 


48  HISTORICAL   SKETCH. 

as  nominally  a  Christian  nation,  and  the  responsibility 
of  their  Christian  institutions  was  to  be  rolled  off  upon 
themselves." 

THE  HOPE  OF  HAWAII.  When  the  missions  were 
withdrawn,  it  was  well  that  there  was  growing  up  in  the 
land  a  class  of  men  wise  enough  and  courageous  enough 
to  undertake  for  Hawaii  in  its  new  development,  a  work 
no  less  noble  than  that  of  the  missionary  fathers, — a  work 
calling  for  much  of  the  same  self-sacrificing  devotion,  and 
the  same  exposure  to  ridicule  and  malignant  hatred,  but 
characterized  by  a  genuine  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the 
native  people,  and  by  a  purpose  to  secure  for  them  in 
common  with  all  others  the  blessings  of  a  progressive 
republican  government. 

The  best  and  most  honorable  men  among  the  native 
Hawaiians  are  allied  in  spirit  and  purpose,  publicly  an- 
nounced, with  the  present  leaders  of  Hawaiian  affairs.  In 
the  New  Hawaii  the  fruitage  of  the  past  is  not  to  be  lost. 
The  forces  of  civilization  and  of  Christianity  are  the  domi- 
nant forces  in  this  period  of  tense  political  strain.  Chris- 
tianity saved  the  Hawaiian  race  from  complete  collapse 
and  disappearance  from  the  earth,  and  the  principles  that 
underlie  Christian  civilization  that  are  now  battling  against 
a  drift  back  to  barbarism  and  the  supremacy  of  a  rene- 
gade white  element,  are  the  only  ground  of  hope  for  the 
Hawaiian  race  in  the  future. 


« 


THE   NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

THE  KANAKA.  The  aborigine,  or  Kanaka,  or,  as  he 
is  more  properly  called,  the  native  Hawaiian,  is  the  most 
interesting  personage  in  Hawaii.  The  peculiar  garb,  and 
the  dislocated  jargon  of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  are  met 
with  on  every  hand,  but  these  can  be  seen  and  heard 
elsewhere.  The  same  can  be  said  of  the  Portuguese 
immigrants,  in  some  respects  the  most  thrifty  and  promis- 
ing element  in  the  peopling  of  New  Hawaii. 

But  the  Kanaka,  the  original  occupant  of  the  country, 
the  genuine  son  of  the  soil,  is  far  and  away  the  most 
interesting  personage  in  that  beautiful  land  of  sunshine. 
No  enterprise  seems  to  be  able  to  get  along  without  him, 
and  you  meet  his  familiar  face  at  every  turn.  It  is  on  the 
whole,  an  attractive  face,  and,  except  on  the  most  unto- 
ward occasions,  it  lights  up  with  rare  kindliness,  and  wins 
you  with  its  smile.  It  is  this  benignant  approachableness 
that  puts  the  Kanaka  in  touch  with  the  stranger  at  first 
sight. 

To  be  sure,  civilization  has  taught  him  to  put  a  com- 
mercial value  on  this  natural  aptitude  for  good  nature,  and 
he  puts  it  to  good  use  in  his  laudable  efforts  to  help  you 
ashore,  for  a  consideration,  when  the  steamer  comes  up  to 

49 


50  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

the  wharf;  or  in  his  cheerful  and  confident  expectancy 
that  you  will  buy  his  wares  when  you  pass  his  stand.  As 
a  consequence,  Hawaiians  uniformly  make  courteous  and 
obliging  clerks,  though  their  cleverness  at  the  counter  has 
rarely  been  followed  by  promotion  to  the  counting-room. 
The  native  Hawaiian  fails  as  a  business  man.  He  gets 
along  fairly  well  with  a  fruit  stand,  or  a  fish  stall,  or  a 
diminutive  curio  shop,  but  there  have  been  few  instances 
where  he  has  successfully  conducted  any  kind  of  busi- 
ness, requiring  banking  and  a  credit  system.  It  is  not  to 
be  expected  of  him.  The  mercantile  spirit  has  been  the 
product  of  centuries  of  progress  in  dickering,  and  this 
experience  has  not  fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  unsophisticated 
Hawaiian. 

OCCUPATION  OF  KANAKAS.  There  are,  however, 
few  occupations  in  which  Hawaiians  are  not  found.  They 
are  painters,  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  machinists,  engineers, 
teamsters,  sailors,  clerks,  book-keepers,  editors,  market- 
men,  dairy-men,  farmers,  cattle-raisers,  sugar  planters, 
fishermen,  school  teachers,  clergymen,  and  government 
officials.  They  are  lawyers  and  judges;  and  the  great 
majority  of  compositors  and  pressmen  in  the  half-a-dozen 
printing  offices  of  Honolulu  are  Hawaiians.  The  heavy 
work  in  the  foundries,  and  in  lading  and  unlading  vessels, 
is  largely  done  by  Hawaiians.  That  most  essential  service 
in  inter-island  traffic,  viz.,  the  manning  of  the  boats  to 


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TIIK   XATIVK    HAWAIIAN.  53 

convey  passengers  and  freight  to  and  fri^ni  the  steamers 
and  the  \-arious  landings  is  altogether  done  by  Hawaiians. 
This  is  a  most  hazardous  employment,  requiring  strength, 
skill,  courage  and  hardihood.  Sometimes  these  men  will 
battle  for  hours,  in  wind  and  rain  and  an  angry  sea,  to 
effect  a  landing  at  a  dangerous  point.  At  certain  seasons 
of  the  year  there  is  hardly  a  return  trip  of  the  inter-island 
steamers  to  Honolulu  that  does  not  bring  one  or  more  of 
these  freighters  or  whale-boats  more  or  less  badly  **  stove 
up." 

All  the  deep-sea  fishing  is  carried  on  by  Hawaiians. 
They  go  in  their  apparently  frail  canoes  out  of  sight  of 
Honolulu,  but  they  rarely  fail  to  return.  This  is  quite 
remarkable,  for  there  are  strong  currents  passing  the  islands 
that  would  easily  bear  them  away  beyond  all  hope  of 
rescue.  These  men  swim  like  fish,  and  the  capsizing  of 
a  canoe  is  an  indifferent  matter  to  them.  This  accounts 
for  the  comparati\'ely  small  loss  of  life  on  the  island  coasts, 
and  how^  it  is  that  boats  are  "stove  up"  but  not  lost.  The 
men  jump  into  the  water,  right  the  boat  and  row  it  to  the 
steamer,  even  in  a  badly  leaking  condition.  It  requires 
men  of  nerve  and  agility  to  bear  the  brunt  of  such  toil, 
and  the  Hawaiians  are  nowhere  put  to  a  severer  test  with 
such  credit  to  themselves. 

The  census  of  1890  show^s  that  there  are  996  mechan- 
ics in  a  total  Haw-iiian  male  population  over  i^  years  of 


54  THE   NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

age  of  1 1 , 1 3  5",  or  about  one  in  every  eleven.  This  certainly 
is  a  good  showing.  It  shows  their  capacity,  under  favor- 
able conditions,  to  take  their  share  of  the  work  that  must 
be  done.  It  shows,  not  what  is  characteristic  of  the  race, 
but  the  part  the  race  might  play  in  the  material  develop- 
ment of  the  land  were  all  Hawaiians  living  under  similar 
conditions.  The  mechanic  class  are  to  be  found  mainly  at 
Honolulu  and  at  the  plantation  centers,  where  they  must 
compete  with  others  and  adjust  themselves  to  the  con- 
ditions in  which  they  find  themselves  or  go  to  the  wall. 

EASE  IN  GAINING  A  LIVELIHOOD.  The  sea  has 
done  more  for  the  native,  in  developing  skill  and  ingenuity, 
than  the  land.  The  comparative  ease  with  which 
Hawaiians  on  their  own  land  can  secure  their  ordinary 
food  supply  has  undoubtedly  interfered  with  their  social 
and  industrial  advancement.  Poi  has  proved  the  greatest 
obstacle  to  the  advancement  of  Hawaiians.  The  ease  with 
which  tarn,  the  vegetable  from  which  poi  is  made,  can  be 
grown,  relieves  the  native  from  any  genuine  struggle  for 
life,  and  unfits  him  for  sustained  competition  with  men 
from  other  lands,  who  know  what  hardship  is,  and  who 
have  learned  how  to  get  their  own  food  in  the  face  of 
strenuous  competition  in  an  overcrowded  population. 

PRINCIPAL  FOOD  STAPLE.  The  taw,  or  Cob- 
casta  antiqiLomm,  a  water  plant,  is  the  chief  food  staple 
among  the  natives.     It  is  generally  grown  in  bis  or  tare 


THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  55 

patches,  being  land  surrounded  by  turf  sides  into  which 
water  can  be  run  from  irrigating  ditches.  The  taw  is 
planted  in  hills,  and  grows  in  the  water,  care  being  exer- 
cised as  to  the  time  of  running  the  water  on  and  the 
depth  at  which  it  is  kept.  In  the  moist  climate  of  Hilo 
taw  is  successfully  grown  on  the  uplands.  A  taw  crop 
requires  about  twelve  or  fourteen  months  to  mature,  but 
being  planted  at  odd  times  throughout  the  year,  a  native 
can  always  have  food  at  hand  in  abundance.  Thus  an 
acre  of  land  is  more  than  sufficient  to  grow  the  food 
supply  for  quite  a  family. 

VALUE  AND  PRODUCTIVENESS  OF  TARO.  The 
value  of  taro  as  a  food  is  only  equaled  by  its  productive- 
ness. Thus  it  has  been  carefully  estimated,  by  men  en- 
gaged in  the  business  of  cultivating  taro  on  a  large  scale, 
that  an  acre  of  land  will  yield  on  an  average  28,000  pounds 
of  cooked  and  pounded  taro  per  annum.  At  the  liberal 
allowance  of  four  pounds  per  day  per  man,  or  three- 
fourths  of  a  ton  per  annum,  that  yield  would  sustain 
eighteen  men  for  the  twelve  months.  This  simply  cor- 
roborates in  figures  the  general  statement  that  a  small 
piece  of  land  will  abundantly  supply  the  wants  of  quite  a 
family,  accustomed  to  taro  as  their  main  food  supply. 

NATIVE  INDOLENCE.  This  fact  makes  against  the 
native,  inasmuch  as  it  largely  takes  away  the  motive  for 
the  acquisition  of  more  land,  and  leads  him  to  be  content 


56  THE    NATIVr:    HAWAIIAN. 

with  what  he  has.  Moreover,  his  little  plot  of  ground 
furnishes  him  with  the  major  part  of  his  food  at  a  mini- 
mum expenditure  of  toil.  At  most  it  only  requires  an 
occasional  hour  or  so  to  keep  his  taro  patch  free  from 
weeds  and  in  a  thrifty  condition.  Aside  from  an  occasion- 
al day  of  fishing,  the  ease  with  which  he  can  secure  the 
necessities  of  life  naturally  leaves  him  with  much  time  on 
his  hands.  This  he  spends  leisurely  as  suits  his  whim. 
Sometimes  he  jogs  off  to  town  on  his  $i^  pony  to  get  the 
niihou  or  news,  or  to  loaf  away  the  day  at  the  boat- 
landing,  or  on  the  post-office  steps.  Sometimes,  and  more 
frequently,  he  passes  away  the  balmy  hours  in  innocuous 
desuetude,  lying  prone  on  the  grass  for  hours  in  some 
convenient  shade,  indifferent  to  all  but  creature  comfort. 
The  happy  thought  that  it  is  meal-time  alone  arouses  him 
from  the  delicious  monotony  of  just  comfortably  breathing 
and  letting  everything  take  care  of  itself.  To  be  sure  he 
varies  his  existence  by  an  occasional  incursion  into  the 
woods,  returning  bedecked  with  leis  or  wreaths  of  some 
fragrant  vine  or  flowers,  and  with  his  patient  pony  loaded 
down  with  bunches  of  bananas  and  a  bag  of  luscious 
oranges  found  growing  wild  within  a  convenient  distance 
from  his  home. 

LUXURIOUS  KANAKA!  One  day  to  him  is  as 
another.  The  struggle  for  life  does  not  fret  his  soul, 
nor  fill  his  thought  with  "the  winter  of  its  discontent." 


THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  57 

To-day's  food  can  be  had  for  the  picking,  and  to-morrow's 
as  well,  and  why  should  he  not  bask  in  the  sunshine  of 
an  almost  perfect  climate,  and  smile  on  nature  as  she 
smiles  on  him  ?  He  obeys  literally  the  injunction,  "  Take 
no  thought  for  the  morrow  I "  To-day's  comfort  fills  his 
horizon,  and  there  is  only  one  date  in  his  almanac.  He 
carries  about  with  him  a  convenient  history  of  the  past 
that  never  ruffles  his  equanimity,  and  he  accepts  no  re- 
sponsibility for  the  future.  He  does  not  need  to  get  in  his 
vegetables  for  winter  or  to  calculate  the  cost  of  an  ulster. 

PREPARATION  OF  POL  However,  freely  as  he  may 
regale  himself  on  oranges,  bananas,  and  cocoanuts  just  as 
they  come  to  his  hand,  he  can  not  eat  his  taro  raw.  He 
must  cook  it  and  scrape  it  and  pound  it,  and,  after  allow- 
ing it  to  ferment  slightly,  he  must  mix  it  with  water  to  the 
proper  consistency.  Taro  thus  treated  is  called  poi.  It  is 
the  national  dish,  and  indeed  is  a  most  wholesome  article 
of  food.  It  is  much  more  palatable  than  flour  paste,  to 
which  it  is  so  often  likened,  and  foreigners  learn  to  like  it 
in  one  form  or  another.  It  is  excellent  in  case  of  sick- 
ness, being  easily  digested  and  withal  very  nourishing. 

At  Wailuku  it  is  now  manufactured  into  a  flour  that  is 
used  for  making  puddings,  cakes,  muffins  and  a  variety  of 
appetizing  dishes.  An  effort  is  being  made  to  introduce  it 
into  this  country  as  a  food  for  invalids.  Without  doubt, 
poi  in  its  various  forms  is  an  ideal  food.    Much  as  it  has 


58  THE    NATIVE   HAWAIIAN. 

operated  to  retard  the  development  of  the  Hawaiian  race 
on  account  of  the  ease  with  which  it  can  be  obtained  from 
a  small  plot  of  land,  the  Hawaiian,  in  turn,  has  much  to 
be  grateful  for,  that  his  staple  article  of  food  never  pro- 
duces indigestion  or  induces  dyspepsia  and  kindred  afflic- 
tions. We  may  pity  the  man  in  whose  sky  is  no  light  of 
progress,  who  is  content  with  what  is,  and  never  seeks 
for  something  better,  but  such  a  man  may  much  more  and 
fittingly  pity  the  victim  of  all  the  latest  refinements  in 
bread -making. 

THE  HAWAIIAN  NOT  A  FARMER.  While  the 
Kanaka's  taro  is  growing,  so  also  are  his  pigs  and  chickens. 
In  one  way  or  another  they  manage  to  get  fat  without  any 
forcing  process  or  much  expenditure  of  time  or  energy  on 
the  part  of  the  proprietor.  In  fact,  the  Hawaiian  is  not 
a  farmer.  He  puts  himself  down  as  such  when  the 
census  man  comes  around,  and  he  certainly  does  know 
how  to  grow  a  crop  of  taro.  But  even  in  this  respect,  it  is 
a  question  whether  the  Chinaman  does  not  beat  him,  as 
he  easily  does  beat  him  in  all  other  farming.  Thus  the 
Chinaman  is  a  fine  market  gardener.  The  Kanaka,  on  the 
other  hand,  knows  next  to  nothing  about  gardening.  The 
Kanaka  does  not  successfully  compete  with  the  Chinese 
and  Portuguese  in  growing  bananas.  The  latter  exported 
bananas  in  the  year  1890  to  the  value  of  ^176,3^1.  There 
is  a  lack  of  persistence  and  of  forethought  in  the  Hawaiian 


THE   NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  59 

character,  induced  very  likely  by  his  easy  conditions,  that 
militate  against  him  when  competing  with  the  farmers  of 
other  lands.  This  is  to  be  regretted,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  competition  he  now  begins  to  rub  up  against  may 
arouse  in  him  a  new  spirit. 

MASTER  OF  WIND  AND  WAVE.  The  moment 
he  decides  he  must  "go  a-fishing,"  the  Kanaka  becomes 
a  new  being.  Alertness  and  judgment  and  enthusiasm 
mark  his  every  movement.  He  makes  his  preparations 
with  great  patience  and  minuteness.  He  overlooks  noth- 
ing that  will  contribute  to  his  success.  His  canoe  is  put 
in  trim,  his  lines  are  all  inspected,  and  his  whole  house- 
hold is  enlisted  in  the  capture  of  crabs  on  the  rocks  and  in 
their  hiding  holes.  He  seems  guided  by  instinct  as  well 
as  by  skill  in  thus  securing  his  bait. 

It  is  a  fascinating  sight  to  watch  the  Kanaka  launch  his 
canoe,  and  guide  it  with  his  paddle  as  he  rides  supreme 
on  the  threatening  swell  that  breaks  with  revengeful  roar 
behind  him  just  as  he  slips  gracefully  from  its  crest.  This 
is  his  element.  He  laughs  at  the  raging  beach-combers 
as  he  deftly  turns  between  them,  and  races  his  canoe 
through  a  strip  of  unbroken  water  out  of  reach  of  dan- 
ger and  into  deep  water.  It  takes  a  moment  only,  and 
you  are  spell-bound  at  his  prowess.  No  more  to  you  is 
he  the  indolent  native  who  lay  so  comfortably  on  the 
velvety  manienie  grass  yonder  by  the  grass-house.     Now 


6o  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAX. 

he  is  a  hero,  with  a  manual  skill  little  less  than  marvelous 
in  the  face  of  those  madly-rushing  breakers. 

THE  SEA  HIS  SCHOOLMASTER.  This  contest  with 
the  sea,  necessitated  by  the  craving  for  what  the  sea 
could  supply,  has,  from  early  days,  been  the  real  stim- 
ulus in  the  natural  development  of  Hawaiian  character. 
It  has  called  out  skill  and  courage  and  sagacity  and 
ingenuity,  and  the  ability  to  endure  hardship  and  not  suc- 
cumb. It  has  promoted  a  knowledge  of  navigation,  and 
led  to  a  minute  and  accurate  observation  of  winds  and 
currents  and  channels,  and  lent  scope  and  fervor  to  the 
imagination,  and  set  aflame  the  poetic  spirit  of  the  race. 
The  old  meles  or  songs  are  replete  with  references  to 
the  sea,  as  are  also  some  of  the  most  cherished  tradi- 
tions. The  sea  is  the  Hawaiian's  classic.  Out  of  it  have 
come  the  seven  wonders  of  his  legendary  world,  and  off 
on  it  have  gone,  nevermore  to  return,  the  adventuresome 
spirits  of  his  race,  aglow  with  the  ardor  of  discovery  and 
conquest. 

RARE  INGENUITY.  A  fine  collection  of  ancient  Ha- 
waiian fishing  tackle  and  appliances  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
celebrated  Bishop  Museum  at  Honolulu.  The  array  would 
have  warmed  the  soul  of  good  old  Isaac  Walton  could 
he  have  had  access  to  it.  It  certainly  entitles  the  Ha- 
waiian to  high  rank  among  the  world's  fishermen.  Be- 
fore the  advent  of  the  white  man  with  his  iron  and 


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THE   NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  6^ 

thread,  the  native,  put  to  his  own  resources,  had  found 
material  for  his  lines  and  hooks  and  spears  and  nets. 
For  his  lines  and  nets,  he  used  the  fiber  of  the  olona, 
a  plant  growing  in  the  valleys;  and  for  hooks,  he  used 
bone  and  mother-of-pearl  and  tortoise  shell.  The  latter 
were  cut  out  with  his  stone  implements,  and  made  ol 
many  styles  as  to  size  and  shape,  so  as  to  suit  the 
whim  of  the  fisher,  and  to  meet  the  needs  of  his  trade. 
The  spears  were  made  of  shark's  teeth,  and  were  used 
by  divers  under  water.  The  early  Hawaiians  were  skill- 
ful also  in  the  use  of  large  nets,  capturing  great  numbers 
of  fish  by  their  skillful  maneuvers. 

SUPERSTITIOUS  BUT  BRAVE.  Superstition  played 
no  small  part  in  the  fishing  of  the  early  days.  Human 
bones  were  preferred  for  fish  hooks,  especially  those  of 
high  chiefs,  to  whom  prayers  were  offered  to  bless  the 
fisher  in  attracting  fish  to  his  hook.  Oblations  were 
offered  to  their  fish  gods  fcr  security  and  success  in  this 
hazardous  calling.  It  is  not  probable  that  superstition 
plays  any  prominent  part  in  the  fishing  of  to-day,  but 
the  aptitude,  and  acquaintance  with  the  sea,  and  with  the 
habits  and  haunts  of  fish,  that  have  descended  from  one 
generation  to  another,  have  made  the  Kanaka  a  skillful  and 
intrepid  man  on  the  deep  seas,  where  he  is  acknowledged 
to  be  facile  princeps. 

KANAKAS  AS   COW-BOYS.     In  early  days  there 


64  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

were  no  horses.  They  were  introduced  in  1803,  by  Capt. 
Cleveland  on  a  voyage  from  California  to  China.  They 
have  since  so  increased  in  numbers  that  they  run  wild  in 
droves  on  the  slopes  of  Mauna  Kea,  and  the  native  is  an 
exceedingly  poor  man  who  does  not  own  some  kind  of  a 
horse.  He  is  more  likely  to  have  two  or  three  than  to  be 
without  entirely.  Naturally  this  has  led  him  into  an  em- 
ployment in  which  he  revels,  viz.,  that  of  a  cow-boy  on 
the  numerous  cattle  ranches  on  the  various  islands.  In 
this  work  he  is  well  nigh  indispensable,  manifesting  great 
dexterity  and  endurance  in  the  saddle.  He  is  exceedingly 
vain  of  his  accomplishments  and  calling,  however,  and  his 
broad  sombrero,  and  gigantic  spurs  that  can  be  heard,  as 
he  rides,  for  an  eighth  of  a  mile,  and  his  coiled  lasso,  the 
end  of  which  he  swings  from  one  side  to  another  of  his 
horse's  flanks,  and  his  air  of  bravado, — these  are  the  de- 
light of  the  boys  of  Honolulu,  who  like  to  imitate  his 
unique  costume,  and  transform  themselves  into  beings  of 
the  same  order.  Elsewhere  boys  always  reach  a  point 
where  they  want  to  go  to  sea.  In  Hawaii  few  of  them 
grow  to  manhood  without  sooner  or  later  catching  the 
cow-boy's  contagious  spirit,  and  learning  to  lass  a  bipi 
on  the  run. 

HAWAIIAN  HORSE  WOMEN.  The  Hawaiian  women 
are  famous  riders.  They  uniformly  ride  astride,  and  on 
gala  days  they  dash  through  the  streets  in  companies 


THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  65 

of  eight  or  ten,  with  wreaths  about  their  necks  and  hats, 
and  with  their  red  and  yellow  pa-us  streaming  behind. 
These  pa-us  are  breadths  of  brilliantly-colored  cloth,  made 
into  long  streamers,  and  securely  fastened  at  the  pommel 
so  as  to  trail  freely  on  either  side,  as  the  riders  gallop 
along.  The  picturesque  and  novel  effect  of  these  bright 
colors,  together  with  the  vivacity  and  rollicking  good 
humor  of  the  riders,  and  their  easy  gracefulness  in  the 
saddle,  add  not  a  little  to  the  uniqueness  of  an  Hawaiian 
holiday.  There  is  in  these  women  of  the  tropics  a  physi- 
cal self-possession,  whether  on  land  or  on  the  sea,  in 
the  saddle  or  in  the  surf,  in  a  common  print  holoku,  or 
Mother  Hubbard  gown,  or  in  costly  silks,  that  is  truly 
remarkable. 

HAWAIIAN  VISITING.  The  Hawaiian  is  a  veritable 
Communist  at  heart.  Instead  of  grasping  for  all  he  can 
get,  he  divides  with  his  neighbor,  and  confidently  expects 
his  neighbor  to  divide  with  him.  It  is  not  an  uncommon 
thing  for  a  whole  houseful  of  his  friends  to  drop  down  on 
him  for  entertainment  and  accommodation  for  a  week  or 
two  at  a  time,  and  he  gives  them  royal  welcome.  When 
they  are  gone,  he,  in  turn,  takes  his  household  with  him, 
and  makes  a  similar  descent,  in  the  utmost  good  nature, 
on  some  one  else. 

DWELLINGS.  In  Honolulu  the  natives  all  live  in 
wooden  houses,  as,  for  the  most  part,  they  do  in  tne 


66  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

country  districts.  These  houses  are  constructed  so  that 
the  basement  has  large  openings,  and  is  high  enough  to 
live  in.  Here  the  owner  lives,  making  his  bed  on  native 
mats  spread  on  the  ground,  and  cooking  his  food  in  an 
improvised  stove  made  by  cutting  out  the  top  and  part  of 
one  side  of  a  kerosene  oil  can.  On  the  floor  above  are 
his  parlor  and  bed-rooms.  The  latter  are  covered  with 
Chinese  matting,  and  are  furnished  with  table,  chairs,  and 
an  immaculate  bed,  with  an  elaborately  worked  quilt,  and 
a  mosquito  net.  This  bedroom  is  for  display  and  for 
guests. 

HOSPITALITY.  The  natural  hospitality  of  the  Ha- 
waiians  is  gracious  in  the  extreme.  They  can  not  do  too 
much  to  manifest  their  good-will  and  desire  for  your 
comfort.  It  is  not  surprising  that  this  kindly  spirit  has 
been  imposed  upon  and  been  taken  advantage  of,  so  that 
it  is  more  cautiously  extended  than  formerly.  In  this 
matter  there  has  been  in  recent  years  a  lamentable  lack  of 
recognition  of  favors  thus  bestowed  free-handed.  The 
natural  impulse  of  Hawaiians,  according  to  their  ability,  to 
hospitably  entertain  strangers  is  highly  creditable  to  their 
race.  Anglo-Saxons  must  blush  for  the  advantage  taken 
of  this  disposition  by  men  of  their  own  race.  The  effects 
of  such  abuse  have  entailed  disease  and  physical  enfeeble- 
ment,  and  confused  the  moral  sense,  never  any  too  strong, 
and  needing  toning  up  rather  than  weakening. 


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THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  69 

A  NATIVE  FEAST.  A  luau  or  native  feast  is  a  no- 
table affair.  I  know  of  nothing  to  which  it  can  be 
compared,  and  it  is  interesting  in  every  detail  from  prep- 
aration to  consummation.  It  is  rarely  under  the  au- 
spices of  a  single  individual  but  of  several  who  combine 
forces  possibly  to  lend  dignity  to  the  occasion,  but 
probably  to  give  it  a  popular  cast  and  to  add  to  the 
quantity  and  variety  of  edibles.  Thus  some  become  re- 
sponsible for  the  supply  of  poi ;  others  for  the  beef  and 
pork  and  fish;  others  for  the  Kulolo,  a  much  esteemed 
pudding  made  of  grated  cocoanut  and  taro,  and  the  milk 
of  the  cocoanut,  sweetened  and  baked ;  others  still 
agree  to  furnish  the  poi-palau,  a  somewhat  similar  com- 
pound of  poi  and  sweet  potato;  while  still  others  engage 
to  supply  ripe  and  luscious  watermelons,  and  sometimes 
oranges,  bananas  and  other  fruits.  One  of  the  most  pe- 
culiar dishes  is  that  of  limu,  a  fresh-water  moss,  that  is 
in  much  esteem  as  a  relish.  I  ought  not  to  omit,  also, 
the  roasted  and  salted  Kukui  nuts,  so  prized  as  a  condiment. 

PREPARATION  FOR  A  FEAST.  The  great  event  is 
the  preparation  and  cooking  of  the  food  in  the  imu  or 
oven.  This  imu  is  a  round  hole,  dug  in  the  ground, 
and  from  two  to  three  feet  deep.  Great  care  is  selected 
in  getting  stones  to  be  heated  in  this  oven,  for  the  den- 
ser ones  will  explode  in  the  great  heat.  Parties  busy 
themselves  in  gathering  these  stones,  and  the  necessary 


70  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

wood,  and  in  otherwise  arranging  for  the  successful 
cooking  of  the  food.  Other  parties  attend  to  the  prep- 
aration of  the  food  for  the  oven.  The  beef  and  pork 
are  cut  into  convenient  pieces  and  wrapped  up  together 
with  fresh  young  taro  leaves,  and  over  all  the  tough  ki 
leaves  are  bound,  and  with  a  deft  turn  or  twist  fastened 
securely.  The  taro  leaves,  when  thus  cooked,  absorb 
the  juices  of  the  beef  and  pork,  and  constitute  the  chief 
tid-bit  of  native  culinary  art.  The  fish  are  wrapped  in 
the  same  way.  While  this  part  of  the  preparation  is 
going  on,  the  fires  have  been  lighted  at  the  imu.  Kind- 
ling is  first  put  in  the  hole,  and  on  top  are  piled  the 
wood  and  stones,  and  the  fire  is  kept  burning  for  seve- 
ral hours.  Then,  the  wood  being  consumed,  the  stones 
are  taken  out  with  a  hoe,  macerated  trunks  of  banana 
plants  are  put  in  to  generate  steam,  and  the  bundles  of 
food  and  the  stones  and  banana  plants  are  put  into  the 
imu  in  layers,  the  whole  being  covered  with  banana 
leaves  to  protect  the  food,  and  with  dirt  sufficient  to 
keep  the  steam  from  escaping.  The  mass  is  then  al- 
lowed to  steam  for  five  or  six  hours,  and  when  taken 
out  is  put  on  the  table  piping  hot;  every  person  having 
a  bundle  of  his  own,  or  more  if  he  wishes  it.  The  most 
far-famed  cuisine  can  not  furnish  more  deliciously-cooked 
meats  than  those  that  come  steaming  from  a  well-man- 
aged Hawaiian  imu. 


THE   NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  71 

ACTION,  BUT  REACTION.  It  will  be  seen  that  a 
luau  entails  a  good  deal  of  labor,  but  there  is  a  certain  eclat 
about  such  occasions  that  gives  the  requisite  zest,  and 
natives  rarely  spare  themselves  at  such  times.  If  such 
industrial  spurts  could  be  transformed  into  systematic  and 
continuous  application  it  would  be  highly  advantageous  to 
the  race.  Ordinarily,  however,  the  native  lives  on  the 
memory  of  such  a  good  time,  instead  of  providing  himself 
with  more  substantial  food  by  the  labor  of  his  hands. 
Every  such  spurt  involves  a  reaction  that  makes  a  native 
averse  to  any  further  immediate  attention  to  work,  either 
for  himself  or  for  others.  Employers  of  labor  complain 
about  these  periodic  distractions,  seriously  inconveniencing 
them  at  times,  but  they  have  to  adjust  themselves  to  the 
fact  that  natives  will  have  feasts,  and  that  they  will  not 
report  for  work  for  days  afterwards. 

FONDNESS  FOR  NATURE.  The  native  is  a  lover 
of  nature,  and  no  matter  how  taxing  the  toil  of  a  luau  may 
be,  he  will  go  to  the  woods  for  maile,  a  fragrant  vine,  and 
for  ferns  and  ki  and  other  plants  suitable  for  decoration. 
He  is  enthusiastic  in  making  his  tables,  if  ferns  spread  on 
the  ground  can  be  called  such,  just  as  attractive  as  pos- 
sible, and  he  hangs  festoons  of  ferns  and  maile  all  around 
the  booth  that  keeps  out  the  tropic  sunshine. 

GUIDING  PRINCIPLE  IN  ALL  FEASTS.  The  Ha- 
waiian is  royal  in  his  hospitality,  and  is  generous  even  to 


-,  THL:    iXATlVK    HAWAIIAN. 

the  sacrificing  of  his  last  chicken,  when  the  tired  traveler 
stops  for  food  and  shelter.  1  certainly  have  never  known 
elsewhere  such  prodigal  and  lavish  hospitality  as  Ha- 
waiians  accord  their  friends  and  guests  at  their  famous 
luaus.  These  feasts,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  judge, 
are  entirely  dependent,  in  each  instance,  on  the  disposition 
of  certain  particular  pigs  to  get  fat.  Thus  there  can  be  no 
feast  without  them,  but  when  they  are  ripe  for  it,  as  it  were, 
it  is  wholly  immaterial  what  day  is  selected  to  celebrate. 
1  once  excused  two  boys  from  school,  at  their  mother's 
request,  that  they  might  go  home  to  a  luau  in  celebration 
of  the  anniversary  of  their  father's  death,  which  occurred 
one  year  previous.  When  they  returned  to  school  it  was 
unnecessary  for  them  to  say,  as  however  they  did,  what  was 
so  evident  in  every  chubby  wnnkle  of  satisfaction,  viz.,  that 
they  had  had  "  a  good  time."  I  do  not  know  that  it  had 
occurred  to  them  to  be  sufficiently  grateful  that  their  father 
had  so  conveniently  died  the  year  before ;  probably  their 
analysis  did  not  go  so  far.  But  they  were  certainly  in  a 
high  state  of  ecstacy  at  their  remarkable  good  fortune  in 
having  any  sort  of  occasion  for  the  killing  of  the  pig. 

COME,  LET  US  EAT  I  Such  an  array  of  edibles  as 
a  luau  brings  together  might  well  cause  even  Solomon's 
feast  boards  to  bend  in  despair.  This  may  be  the  reason 
why  a  genuine,  old-fashioned  luau  is  always  spread  on 
ferns  and  ki  leaves  on  the  ground.     It  thus  comes  about 


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THE    NATiVK    HAWAIIAN.  75 

that  he  who  would  eat  on  these  festive  occasions  must 
have  a  stevedore's  skill  to  stow  away  his  legs,  and  forget 
he  has  a  back.  He  must  also  eat  with  his  fingers,  for 
really,  after  all,  one  can  not  do  anything  with  a  fork  at  a 
luau.  You  must  untie  your  bundle  of  meat,  and  after 
having  got  your  fingers  oily  and  sticky  there  is  nothing 
more  to  do  but  to  plunge  them  into  the  poi  and  eat  like 
your  neighbors.  The  whole  world  is  kin  when  you 
scooch  on  the  grass  and  eat  broiled  fish  with  your  fingers. 
All  the  viands  are  before  you,  and  you  eat  according  to  the 
whim  of  the  moment,  there  being  but  one  course,  albeit 
a  very  comprehensive  one,  and  you  are  expected  to  slight 
no  part  of  it. 

EAT,  DRINK  AND  BE  MERRY.  After  all,  the  cnief 
feature  of  a  luau  is  the  people.  Utmost  jollity  and  good 
nature  prevail.  Every  one's  face  is  aglow,  and  every 
one's  mouth  open,  and  the  viands  disappear  like  the 
dew  before  the  sun.  Every  one  talks  as  he  eats,  and 
with  a  fingerful  of  poi  in  mid-air,  here  and  there,  a  big 
Kanaka  laughs  and  shakes  his  fat  sides  as  he  jabbers  . 
away  in  the  most  irresistible  style.  In  such  scenes,  "eat, 
drink  and  be  merry"  is  philosophy  enough,  and  the  only 
philosophy  that  can  be  understood. 

HAWAIIAN  SWIMMERS.  Every  visitor  to  Honolulu 
has  noted  the  ease  and  self-possession  of  Hawaiian  boys 
in  the  water  near  the  wharves  at  the  departure  of  ocean 


76  THE   NATIVE   HAWAIIAN. 

steamers.  It  is  the  stereotyped  thing  for  tourists  to  snap 
ten-cent  pieces  into  the  water,  and  watch  the  boys  dive 
for  the  money.  They  never  fail  to  get  it,  and  on  some 
occasions  a  particular  boy  will  have  quite  a  mouthful  of 
dimes  before  the  steamer  gets  fairly  under  way. 

Sometimes  sharks  come  into  Honolulu  harbor,  but 
the  natives  always  manage  to  know  when  a  shark  is 
about,  and  they  rarely  get  caught.  When  pursued  by 
one,  if  brought  to  bay,  the  native  will  peer  down  into 
the  water  with  his  keen  eyes  intent  on  the  tactics  of  his 
pursuer.  The  shark  must  turn  before  he  can  snap  at 
his  expected  victim,  and  just  as  he  turns,  the  native 
dives,  and  the  great  jaws  come  together  with  nothing 
between  them.  This  is  repeated  till  relief  comes,  much 
to  the  perplexity  of  the  clumsy  fish.  When  prepared 
for  such  an  encounter,  the  native,  as  he  dives,  jabs  his 
knife  into  a  vulnerable  spot  in  the  shark's  anatomy,  and 
usually  wins  the  day,  either  by  killing  his  foe  or  by 
driving  him  off. 

SURF-BATHING.  Surf-bathing  is  heroic  sport.  It 
was  formerly  practiced  in  honor  of  kings  and  chiefs,  but 
is  on  its  own  account  a  right  royal  sport,  in  every  sense  of 
the  word.  It  consists  in  riding  a  long  plank,  carefully 
shaped,  and  with  ends  rounded,  on  the  crest  of  great  bil- 
lows rolling  shorewards.  The  skill  consists  in  "taking" 
the  wave  at  an  opportune  moment,  and  in  keeping  the 


THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  'y-r 

surf-board  in  such  relation  to  the  movement  of  the  billow 
that  the  latter  will  propel  the  rider  at  a  tremendous  speed 
toward  the  shore.  Expert  surf-riders  will  rise  as  they 
rush  along,  until  they  stand  erect  with  folded  arms,  com- 
plete masters  of  the  waves,  whom  they  seem  to  drive 
before  them  like  horses  in  a  race.  Surf-riding,  though  not 
so  frequently  witnessed  as  formerly,  is  nevertheless  yet  to 
be  seen  on  special  occasions. 

LOST  ARTS.  Many  of  the  ancient  games  are  lost  arts 
to  the  present  generation,  who  have  substituted  instead 
base  ball  and  foot  ball  and  boating.  In  all  these  they  are 
among  the  best.  This  comparatively  insignificant  fact  in- 
dicates what  is  taking  place  in  other  and  more  important 
matters,  viz.,  the  evolving  of  a  New  Hawaii  wholly  allied 
to  modern  thought  and  modern  methods.  One  can  but 
feel  sad,  however,  when  anything  truly  heroic  passes  out 
of  the  ken  of  man. 

CLOTHED,  AND  IN  HIS  RIGHT  MIND.  There  is 
a  more  or  less  popular  impression  that  Hawaiians  are,  to  a 
fault  almost,  economical  as  to  the  quantity  of  their  wear- 
ing apparel,  and  not  as  discreet  as  they  might  be  in  its 
disposition  on  the  person.  This  is  a  very  natural  mis- 
apprehension, inasmuch  as  the  popular  mind  makes  no 
discrimination  as  to  things  "way  out  in  the  Pacific,"  and 
so  classes  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  various  South  Pacific 
groups  with  the  Hawaiians,  and  lays  on  the  latter  all  the 


y?>  THE   NATIVE   HAWAIIAN. 

sins  of  the  South  Seas.  The  Hawaiian  has  his  demerits, 
but  semi-nudity  is  not  one  of  them.  So  far  as  a  certain 
doubtful  class  of  photographs  is  concerned,  it  may  be  said 
of  the  Hawaiian  that  he  is  "clothed  and  in  his  right 
mind."  He  does  not  always  wear  broadcloth  or  sport  a 
silk  hat,  but  he  wears  good  honest  clothes  and  so  do  his 
wife  and  children.  He  does  not  fret  himself  about  shoes, 
though  he  has  them  and  wears  them  to  church  and 
whenever  he  thinks  proper.  His  daughter,  walking  into 
town  for  shopping  purposes,  will  carry  her  shoes  and 
stockings  under  her  arm  till  she  nears  the  town,  when  she 
will  stop  by  the  roadside  and  put  them  where  they  belong. 
His  wife,  on  occasion,  will  pay  fifty  cents  for  a  ride  in  a 
hack,  without  any  sense  of  incongruity,  albeit  she  does  so 
barefooted. 

Probably  the  best  dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen  of 
Honolulu  are  as  likely  to  be  on  a  given  occasion  Hawaiians 
as  foreigners.  There  is  among  the  poorer  natives  the 
same  love  of  color,  and  the  same  glaring  innovations  on 
taste,  as  characterize  other  nationalities.  But  among  the 
better  educated  Hawaiians  there  is  a  singular  aptitude  for 
appropriate  adorning  of  the  person,  and  "the  style"  is 
sedulously  cultivated. 

THE  FLOWER  GIRLS.  The  flower-girls  of  Hono- 
lulu are  worthy  of  mention.  They  come  early  in  the 
morning  to  one  of  the  thoroughfares,  spread  their  mats  on 


THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  79 

the  side-walk,  and  string  their  flowers  into  leis  or  wreaths 
for  sale  to  the  passer-by.  On  steamer  days  the  sale  is 
considerable,  for  one  of  the  singular  customs  is  to  throw 
leis  around  the  necks  of  departing  friends.  Many  of  these 
leis  are  beautiful,  being  made  of  plumeria  blossoms,  a 
creamy  white  flower  of  delicious  perfume.  Great  inge- 
nuity is  shown  in  the  combinations  of  flowers  and  parts  of 
flowers  in  the  manufacture  of  these  wreaths.  Occasion- 
ally, to  guy  some  young  man,  he  is  literally  swathed  in 
leis,  from  his  hat  to  his  knees,  and  looks  more  like  an 
animated  conservatory  than  a  human  being. 

A  GENUINE  POLITICIAN.  The  Hawaiian  is  a  born 
politician.  He  likes  to  talk,  and  a  discussion  is  the  delight 
of  his  heart.  But  what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  if  he  has 
had  some  advantages,  he  is  able  to  play  skillfully  on  the 
sensibilities  of  his  people,  and  in  gaining  his  end  good 
nature  counts  for  more  than  logic.  He  is  shrewd  and 
knows  every  avenue  to  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen. 
He  is  politic  in  his  approaches,  and  turns  every  incident 
to  his  advantage,  regardless  of  inconsistencies  and  with 
no  intelligent  regard  for  the  future.  All  Hawaiians  love 
the  excitement  of  an  election,  and  there  are  few  stay-at- 
homes.  As  a  legislator  the  Hawaiian  is  deficient  in  origi- 
nating legislation,  but  is  sharp  to  see  its  bearing  when  some 
one  else  introduces  it.  Most  of  the  pernicious  measures 
that  have  been  brought  before  various  legislatures  in  re- 


So  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

cent  years  were  suggested  and  formulated  by  interested 
foreigners.  The  Hawaiian  is  not  constructive.  He  is  a 
good  debater,  aside  from  defective  logic,  and  a  fluent 
talker,  and  is  just  the  material  to  make  a  demagogue  of 
or  to  fall  prey  to  demagogic  arts. 

DECREASE  OF  HAWAIIANS.  The  last  official  cen- 
sus, taken  in  1890,  shows  that  the  total  population  at  that 
time  was  89,990.  If  we  group  the  half-castes,  number- 
ing 6186,  with  the  pure  Hawaiians,  numbering  3443 6'  ^^ 
have  a  total  of  40,622,  or  just  4^  per  cent,  of  the  total 
population  of  the  country.  In  other  words,  ^^  per  cent, 
of  the  population  has  come  from  abroad.  Out  of  twenty 
men,  therefore,  representing  the  ratio  of  the  races,  nine 
would  be  Hawaiian,  six  would  be  Asiatics,  and  five  would 
represent  Americans  and  various  European  nationalities. 

Without  going  back  to  the  rough  estimate  made  by 
Capt.  Cook  at  the  time  he  visited  the  Islands,  when  he 
placed  the  population  at  400,000,  it  is  approximately  cor- 
rect to  use  for  comparison  the  figures  obtained  in  the 
year  1832,  when  the  population  was  ascertained  to  be 
130,313.  Now  the  figures  of  the  last  census,  including 
half-castes  among  the  natives,  show  a  decrease  since 
1832  of  89,691  or  an  average  annual  decrease  of  1^46. 
Since  i860  the  decrease  has  been  26,362,  or  about  40  per 
cent,  of  the  population  thirty  years  ago.  Notwithstanding 
the  notable  increase  in  the  number  of  half-castes,  accord- 


THE   NATIVE   HAWAIIAN.  8i 

ing  to  the  census  of  1890,  the  actual  decrease  of  natives 
and  half-castes  combined  in  the  six  years  since  1884, 
amounted  to  4366. 

While  this  decrease  has  been  steadily  going  on, 
receiving  its  impetus  long  before  the  discovery  of  the 
islands  by  white^men,  although  greatly  accelerated  be- 
tween the  years  i82>-i8^3,  when  it  reached  the  alarm- 
ing total  of  77,081,  or  an  average  annually  of  3,8^4,  the 
foreign  population  since  18^3,  when  it  first  appears  in  the 
census,  exclusive  of  Asiatics  and  Polynesians,  increased, 
as  per  census  of  1890,  to  19,418  or  916  per  cent. 

HALF-CASTES.  It  is  questionable  as  to  the  justice 
of  classing  the  half-caste  element  with  the  native.  There 
are  marked  divergences,  in  spite  of  political  affiliations, 
which  call  for  a  distinct  grouping  of  these  two  classes. 
In  fact  it  is  claimed,  with  a  good  degree  of  justice,  that 
the  half-caste  element  really  belongs  to  the  new  order 
in  the  social  and  physical  regeneration  that  is  transform- 
ing the  Old  Hawaii  into  the  New.  Thus,  while  the  native 
Hawaiians  decreased  ^^78  from  1884  to  1890,  the  half- 
castes  in  the  same  time  increased  1968.  Or  to  put  it 
into  percentages,  the  natives  in  those  six  years  decreased 
14  per  cent,  and  the  half-castes  increased  47  per. cent. 

AMALGAMATION.  The  conclusion  is  irresistible  that 
the  vitality  of  the  native  race  is  at  the  ebb,  and  that  its 
future,  like  that  of  many  other  lands,  lies  in  amalgamation 


82  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

with  other  races.  In  this  process  it  is  a  problem  what 
elements  in  native  character  will  be  perpetuated  in  the 
new  order.  Shall  the  heroism  and  hardihood  and  simple 
faith  and  intrepid  stalwartness  of  the  race,  at  its  best, 
survive  and  characterize  the  new  order,  or  shall  the  easy 
indolence,  and  the  lack  of  systematic  application  and  the 
physical  exuberance  of  the  race,  color  the  new  combina- 
tion? This  is  a  question  that  forces  itself  to  the  front^ 
in  face  of  the  fact  that  while  the  natives  numbered  34,436 
in  1890,  the  half-castes  numbered  6186,  or  i^  per  cent, 
of  the  combined  population  of  the  two.  Should  the  cen- 
sus of  1896  maintain  anything  like  the  ratio  of  change 
shown  in  the  census  of  1890,  the  half-caste  element 
would  then  be  approximately  10,000,  and  the  native  Ha- 
waiian barely  29,000. 

GROWTH  OF  FOREIGN  ELEMENT.  These  figures 
assume  increased  interest  when  the  rapid  growth  of  the  for- 
eign population  is  considered.  An  increase  of  this  element 
in  thirty-seven  years  of  over  900  per  cent,  is  prophetic  of 
a  speedy  supremacy  of  the  foreign  element,  even  in  point 
of  numbers.  Even  in  the  six  years  from  1884  to  1890, 
the  children  of  foreign  parents,  born  in  Hawaii,  exclusive 
of  Asiatic,  increased  184  per  cent. 

CAUSES  OF  DECREASE.  The  New  Hawaii,  politic- 
ally, socially  and  industrially,  is  rapidly  emerging  from  the 
conditions  that  have  so  hampered  its  progress  and  growth 


NATIVES  WITH  THEIR  SURF  BOARDvS —The  exciting  pastime  of  surf  riding 
is  enjoyed  by  both  sexes.  To  be  a  successful  performer  the  swimmer  requires 
immense  nerve  and  long  practice.  The  surf  board  is  made  of  koa  wood  of  light 
weight,  kept  higlily  polished,  and  is  about  eight  feet  long  by  a  foot  and  a  half  wide. 


THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  85 

rn  the  past.  The  sad  element  in  it  all  is  what  seems 
.'ike  the  inevitable  disappearance  of  the  native  race.  It 
seems  like  cruelty  to  undertake  in  these  last  days  a  diag- 
nosis of  the  conditions  that  have  induced  such  a  pitiful 
decimation  of  the  race.  Undoubtedly  the  movement  had 
its  source,  and  gathered  tremendous  momentum  in  the 
conditions  of  life  antecedent  to  the  advent  of  foreigners. 
Contact  with  seamen,  who  bid  good-by  to  God  and  self- 
restraint  in  rounding  Cape  Horn,  accelerated  the  decrease 
by  the  introduction  of  diseases  that  soon  poisoned  the 
race.  The  mere  change  of  conditions,  from  barbarism  to 
civilization,  has  had  its  blighting  effect  on  the  physical  vi- 
tality of  this  people,  for  such  change  requires  readjustments 
that  have  not  always  been  intelligently  made.  These 
largely  depend  on  the  individual,  but  the  effect  is  vital  to 
the  race  to  which  he  belongs.  The  contact  of  the  race 
with  the  Chinese  has  been  distinctly  disadvantageous  to 
Hawaiians.  There  are  those  who  still  are  sanguine  that 
the  decrease  will  yet  be  stayed,  and  that  new  conditions 
helpful  to  the  increase  of  the  race  are  coming  into  exist- 
ence. Thus,  in  the  district  of  Kona,  on  the  island  of 
Hawaii,  the  Board  of  Education  has  noted  a  remarkable 
increase  in  the  number  of  native  children,  five  and  six  to 
a  family  being  not  an  uncommon  thing.  It  is  noted  that 
in  this  district  the  Hawaiians  are  more  by  themselves,  and 
less  subjected  to  certain  conditions  connected  with  prox- 


86  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

imity  to  centres  of  mixed  population.  It  is  also  argued 
that  adverse  conditions  have  in  other  respects  largely 
spent  their  force,  and  that  a  period  of  race  recuperation 
may  now  be  expected  to  set  in.  No  one  who  has  lived 
among  Hawaiians,  and  has  learned  to  love  them  for  their 
many  good  traits,  can  but  hope  that  this  interesting 
people  may  survive  and  make  an  honored  place  for 
themselves  in  the  future  of  that  land,  as  their  fathers, 
in  so  many  instances,  carved  out  an  heroic  career  in 
the  past. 

ABILITY  TO  READ  AND  WRITE.  It  is  rarely  the 
case  that  an  Hawaiian  can  be  found  who  does  not  know 
how  to  read  and  write.  They  have  half  a  dozen  news- 
papers in  their  own  language,  which  is  still  commonly 
used  among  them,  although  the  instruction  in  the  schools 
of  all  grades  is  almost  wholly  in  the  English  language,  and 
few  natives  under  twenty  years  of  age  can  be  found  who 
are  not  able  to  understand  and  use  English  sufficient  for 
ordinary  purposes.  The  text-books  in  their  schools  are 
all  American,  and  up  to  the  times.  The  teachers  are  to  a 
large  extent  Americans,  this  being  especially  true  in  the 
more  advanced  schools,  where  it  is  unusual  to  find  in- 
structors of  any  other  nationality.  This  has  always  been 
the  case,  and  to  this  fact  must  be  credited  the  ready  adop- 
tion of  American  ideas  and  sentiment  and  the  kindly 
feeling  of  Hawaiians  of  all  classes  toward  the  United 


THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  2>7 

States  as  Hawaii's  nearest  neighbor,  and  uniformly  its 
best  friend,  in  all  its  intercourse  and  contact  with  other 
nations. 

AMERICAN  SENTIMENT.  This  Americanism  of  Ha- 
waiians  manifests  itself  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  which  is 
by  far  the  most  popular  holiday  of  the  year,  being  cele- 
brated with  a  gusto,  as  it  is  awaited  with  an  interest  that 
characterizes  none  of  the  days  commemorative  of  events 
in  their  own  history.  Moreover,  the  schools,  by  the  use 
of  American  text-books,  foster  a  knowledge  of  American 
history,  and  supply  a  fund  of  general  information  pertain- 
ing to  the  growth  and  progress  of  the  United  States,  that 
has  stimulated  an  interest  in  everything  American.  The 
excitement  over  a  Presidential  election  in  the  United  States 
laps  over  into  Hawaii,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  peo- 
ple in  some  of  our  territories  manifest  a  more  genuine 
interest  or  concern  in  the  result  than  these  sons  of  the 
tropics. 

RELIGION.  The  Hawaiian  is  not  an  indifferentist  in 
religion.  His  religious  instincts  may  carry  him  to  ex- 
tremes from  modern  Christianity  to  a  resuscitated  heath- 
enism, and  he  may  not  be  able  himself  to  tell  where  he 
belongs  at  times.  He  needs  a  rudder  to  guide  him  in 
these  respects,  as  in  many  others.  He  is  not  peculiar  in 
this,  as  the  world  goes,  and  it  simply  indicates  in  Hawaii, 
as  elsewhere,  the  disposition  to  take  up  with  what  is 


S8  THE    NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

novel, — with  a  nuhou,  as  the  Hawaiian  expresses  it,  with 
a  "  fad  "  as  we  Anglo-Saxons  more  concisely  put  it.  The 
great  majority  of  Hawaiians,  however,  are  adherents  to 
Christianity,  either  as  Catholics  or  Protestants.  It  is  in 
the  sphere  of  religious  life  and  effort  that  Hawaiians  have 
displayed  the  finest  courage  and  steadfastness  and  win- 
someness  of  character.  The  political  and  social  changes 
of  the  last  twenty  years  have  borne  heavily  on  the  work 
of  the  churches,  scattered  as  they  are  all  over  the  group, 
hardly  the  smallest  hamlet  being  without  its  church  build- 
ing and  organization.  Deprived  as  the  native  ministers 
have  been  in  these  later  years  of  the  sagacious  counsel  of 
the  missionaries  who  have  passed  from  the  scene  of  their 
former  labors,  these  Hawaiian  pastors  have  nobly,  and  at 
great  sacrifice,  labored  for  the  spiritual  advancement  of 
their  people.  There  are,  in  many  an  humble  pulpit  in  out- 
of-the-way  places  on  those  islands,  modern  types  of  a 
heroism  akin  to  the  brave  deed  of  the  immortal  Kapiolani, 
who,  in  the  trying  days  when  Hawaiian  heathenism  ral- 
lied for  its  final  contest  with  Christianity,  defied  the  god- 
dess Pele,  on  the  brink  of  the  boiling  lake  of  lava,  and 
cast  her  commanding  influence  against  the  priests  and 
their  superstitions,  and  led  her  people  to  accept  the  new 
faith.  Whatever  the  years  may  bring  to  Hawaii  and  her 
people,  the  world  will  never  forget  the  strain  of  heroism 
in  her  history. 


THE  HAWAIIAN  WOMAN  IN  PAU.— The  Hawaiian  woman  is  in  her  element 
on  horseback;  the  flowing  folds  of  the  gorgeously  colored  "Pan,"  draping  the 
horse  on  both  sides,  her  head  and  neck  bedecked  with  flowers,  she  makes  a  brilliant 
picture  on  gala  days.  Sometimes  thirty  or  forty  at  once  go  dashing  through  the 
streets  of  the  city,  their  horses  at  full  gallop,  up  hill  and  down  at  breakneck  pace. 


THE   NATIVE    HAWAIIAN.  91 

HAWAIIANS  AND  NEW  HAWAII.  The  evolution 
of  political  and  industrial  forces  within  her  borders  has 
introduced  to  the  world  a  New  Hawaii.  What  is  to  be 
the  place  of  the  aborigine  in  this  new  order  ?  Plainly,  it 
is  to  be  just  what  the  native  Hawaiian  will  make  for  him- 
self. It  needs  to  be  cleady  understood  that  the  native 
Hawaiian  has  been  a  full  sharer  in  every  constitutional 
gain  achieved  under  Anglo-Saxon  leadership.  There  is 
not  the  slightest  distinction  in  Hawaii  on  the  ground  of 
color.  There  is  the  most  cordial  fellowship  between  Ha- 
waiians  and  foreigners,  notwithstanding  radical  political 
differences,  especially  in  the  city  of  Honolulu.  There  has 
been  for  years  vital  political  union  between  the  present 
rulers  of  Hawaii  and  the  best  of  native  Hawaiians,  and  in 
the  present  movement  for  annexation  there  are  vigorous 
native  annexation  clubs  representing  at  least  twenty-five 
per  cent,  uf  the  native  voting  population.  Those  who  are 
acquainted  with  Hawaiian  indisposition  to  take  sides  on  a 
matter  of  doubtful  issue  appreciate  the  meaning  of  these 
figures.  It  is  likely  that  reasonable  delay  in  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  permanent  government  will  win  over  a  majority 
of  Hawaiians  whose  rights  are  to  be  carefully  guarded, 
and  whose  privileges  are  to  be  enlarged  rather  than 
diminished. 

But  what  of  the  native  aside  from  political  privilege? 
Again,  he  has  every  encouragement  and  help  to  maintain  a 


92  THE   NATIVE    HAWAIIAN. 

place  for  himself.  He  is  offered  singularly  favorable  op- 
portunities for  industrial  training  in  the  Kamehameha 
Manual  Training  Schools.  These  are  privileges  not  yet 
accorded  to  students  of  any  other  nationality.  He  has, 
moreover,  every  incentive  in  the  perfect  freedom  afforded 
him  in  all  his  relations.  He  has  none  of  the  race  obstacles 
to  overcome  which  in  other  lands  prove  such  a  hindrance 
to  individual  freedom.  The  New  Hawaii  will  emancipate 
the  Hawaiian  from  a  spirit  of  obsequiousness  toward  royal 
personages  which  has  proved  harmful  to  the  freest  de- 
velopment of  political  independence,  and  it  will  also  com- 
pel him  to  look  out  for  himself.  The  Hawaiian  to-day 
would  be  a  better  man  and  citizen  if  he  had  learned  the 
lesson  of  taking  care  of  himself. 

Under  the  rule  of  chiefs  he  had  no  option.  He  could 
not  act  for  himself.  So  under  the  monarchy  he  did  not 
outgrow  his  feeling  of  dependence,  which  has  been  mis- 
takenly fostered  by  foreigners  of  benevolent  intent,  who 
have  perpetuated  in  some  degree  the  relationship  of  the 
old  chiefs  and  have  helped  the  native  to  school  his 
children,  and  to  bury  his  dead,  and  to  furnish  him  means 
to  start  a  new  enterprise.  Competition  now  will  put  the 
Kanaka  to  his  mettle.  He  will  have  a  fair  chance.  He 
cannot  claim  more.  If  he  maintains  his  place,  it  will  be 
by  putting  his  strength  and  skill  to  the  test,  and  by  per- 
sistence and  pluck  winning  success  as  others  win  it. 


CLIMATE,  SOIL  AND   PRODUCTIONS. 

LIQUID  SUNSHINE.  The  Hawaiians  have  no  word 
for  "weather,"  for  they  have  nothing  of  the  kind.  The 
days  are  pretty  much  the  same  the  year  around.  The  sun 
shines  or  the  rain  falls  or  the  wind  blows,  but  none  of 
them  in  an  uncomfortable  way.  In  fact  in  Hilo,  on  the 
large  island  of  Hawaii,  the  sun  shines  through  the  rain, 
making  what  people  call  "liquid  sunshine."  It  is  rarely 
that  the  sun  or  the  wind  or  the  rain,  or  all  combined, 
interfere  with  business  or  even  with  out-door  work. 
There  are  storms  of  rain,  to  be  sure,  that  last  for  several 
days,  during  which  there  is  a  heavy  downfall,  but  these 
storms  are  not  common,  occurring  seldom  more  than  once 
or  twice  in  a  year,  and  there  are  always  great  "junks" 
of  sunshine  just  before  and  after  that  make  you  feel 
that  you  have  had  a  sort  of  celestial  bath  rather  than  a 
spell  of  weather.  Ordinarily,  however,  the  rain  and  the 
sunshine  are  on  better  and  more  intimate  terms  and  run 
along  together  throughout  the  year,  one  keeping  the  air 
warm  enough,  and  the  other  keeping  it  from  getting  too 
warm,  so  that  the  climate  well-nigh  reaches  perfection. 
Such  is  the  elevation  of  the  interior  of  the  Islands,  that 
it  is  possible,  with  a  comparatively  slight  change  of  loca- 

93 


94        CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

tion,  to  secure  a  decided  change  in  temperature.  Residents 
avail  themselves  of  this  advantage,  and  go  to  the  hills 
when  they  feel  the  need  of  a  tonic.  With  the  further 
development  of  the  Islands,  in  the  matter  of  roads  and 
convenient  means  of  transportation,  larger  advantage  still 
will  be  taken  of  this  opportunity,  close  at  hand,  to  break 
the  monotony  of  continual  summer  by  a  few  weeks  in 
the  bracing  atmosphere  of  the  mountain  slopes. 

At  sea-level  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold  are  ^^°  and 
89°  Fahrenheit.  The  thermometer  rarely  touches  either 
point.  When  it  falls  to  ^3°  it  is  because  of  an  exception- 
ally clear  sky  at  night  in  January,  permitting  the  cold  winds 
from  the  mountains  to  blow,  unobstructed  by  the  usual 
bank  of  heavy  clouds  that  hug  the  ridges.  The  ther- 
mometer rises  to  89°  at  mid-day  only  when  people  in 
the  United  States  are  suffering  from  the  excessive  heat 
of  the  nineties  and  over.  The  mean  daily  temperature 
for  January,  for  a  series  of  years,  has  been  7 1  °,  while  for 
July  it  has  been  only  seven  degrees  higher,  or  78°. 

EQUABLE  CLIMATE.  The  equableness  of  the  cli- 
mate is  remarkable,  but  the  comparatively  low  tempera- 
ture for  a  tropical  country  is  still  more  remarkable.  Thus 
Key  West,  Florida,  which  is  ^°  16"  farther  north,  has  a 
mean  temperature  throughout  the  year  of  76°,  while  that 
of  Honolulu  is  only  7^°.  Havana,  Cuba,  although  two 
degrees  farther  north,  has  a  mean  temperature  of  tour 


ALLIGATOR  PEARS.—The  Alligator,  or  as  it  is  more  usually  called,  the  Avo- 
cado Pear,  is  common  in  the  West  Indies  and  Mexico.  When  introduced  into 
the  Hawaiian  Islands  it  was  found  that  it  couid  be  easily  cultivated  there.  The 
trees  grow  to  a  large  size,  and  are   very  prolific. 


CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.        97 

degrees  warmer  than  that  of  Honolulu.  The  causes  of 
this  equable  and  comfortable  climate  are  to  be  found 
largely  in  the  isolated  insular  position  of  Hawaii.  The 
surrounding  ocean,  both  by  evaporation  and  by  means  of 
cold  currents  from  the  north,  greatly  modifies  the  tem- 
perature of  what  might  otherwise  be  an  uncomfortably 
hot  climate.  The  lofty  mountain  structure  of  the  Islands, 
inducing,  as  it  does,  a  liberal  rain-fall  in  the  higher  re- 
gions, also  operates  to  reduce  heat  and  to  maintan  an 
equable  temperature  throughout  the  year.  Another  effect- 
ive element  in  securing  this  result  is  the  trade-wind,  cool 
and  moist  for  nine  months  of  the  year,  bringing  health 
and  refreshment  to  all  that  breathe.  The  land  breezes  at 
night  are  a  considerable  factor  in  producing  a  grateful 
change  between  day  and  night  temperatures,  so  that  the 
hours  of  sleep  are  in  a  marked  degree  comfortable  and 
refreshing. 

These  various  causes,  always  operating,  produce  a 
uniform  result,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  Islands  have 
a  charming  climate,  suited  to  the  residence  of  a  population 
from  more  temperate  climes,  with  none  of  the  disadvan- 
tages which  attend  life  in  so  many  other  tropical  lands. 

HEALTHFULNESS.  Moreover,  the  climatic  conditions 
and  the  structure  of  the  Islands  are  favorable  to  health. 
The  soil  is  porous,  the  land  slopes  seaward  on  every  hand, 
and  the  numerous  streams  serve  to  cleanse  the  land  of  all 


98        CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

offensive  matter  productive  of  disease.  The  winds  bear 
seaward,  also,  deleterious  matter,  thus  performing  a  double 
office  in  the  interest  of  good  health.  Diseases  of  colder 
climates,  not  being  accompanied  in  Hawaii  by  the  same 
aggravating  conditions,  are  not  as  contagious  nor  as  viru- 
lent, and  some  of  them  are  practically  unknown.  Epi- 
demics are  not  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  the  more  fatal 
diseases  are  especially  sporadic.  It  is  comparatively  easy 
to  maintain  an  effective  quarantine,  and  the  distance  from 
other  land  on  every  side  is  in  itself  not  a  small  protection 
against  the  introduction  of  disease. 

The  mortality  report  for  the  city  of  Honolulu  for  the 
year  1892  shows  a  death  rate  of  ^0.60.  These  figures 
alone  would  indicate  that  Honolulu  was  a  decidedly  un- 
healthful  city.  But  it  should  be  noted  that  this  large 
percentage  is  due  to  the  alarming  mortality  among  Ha- 
waiians,  which  for  the  two  years,  189 1-2,  amounted  each 
year  to  39  per  cent,  of  the  native  population  resident  in 
Honolulu.  During  the  same  years  the  mortality  among 
the  Americans  and  British  residents  varied  from  14  per 
cent,  to  18  per  cent.  Among  the  Portuguese,  and  the 
Asiatics,  subjected  to  the  same  conditions  as  Hawaiians,  as 
to  location  and  dwellings,  the  mortality  in  1891  was  only 
18  per  cent,  and  19  per  cent,  respectively.  So  that,  aside 
from  the  excessive  mortality  among  Hawaiians,  due  to 
causes  not  operative  among  other  nationalities,  and  not 


CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.        99 

related  to  general  health  conditions,  it  will  be  seen  that 
Honolulu  is  a  remarkably  healthful  city.  What  is  true  of 
Honolulu,  in  this  respect,  is  also  true  of  all  other  localities. 

In  this  connection,  it  is  well  to  note  the  disastrous 
inroads  made  by  the  cholera  in  180^,  when  one-half  of 
the  native  population  of  Oahu  died;  by  the  measles  in 
1848,  when  it  was  estimated  that  one-tenth  of  the  entire 
native  population  of  the  Islands  died ;  and  by  the  small- 
pox in  18^3,  which  carried  away  about  three  thousand 
natives.  The  measles  and  small-pox  have  on  several 
occasions  since  been  epidemic  on  the  Islands,  but  because 
of  better  quarantine  regulations,  and  by  reason  of  greater 
intelligence  among  the  people,  there  has  been  no  repetition 
of  this  first  disastrous  contact  of  the  natives  with  imported 
diseases. 

These  dismal  records  belong  to  the  past.  The  present 
decrease  of  the  race  is  painful  to  contemplate,  but  it  has 
little  to  do  with  the  climate,  and  has  no  relation  to  the 
desirability  of  a  residence  in  this  land  of  apparent  con- 
tradictions. Hawaii  has  a  climate  unsurpassed,  and  is,  in 
every  respect,  a  desirable  resort  for  those  wishing  to  avoid 
the  extreme  heat  and  cold  of  more  northern  climes,  and 
a  veritable  haven  for  invalids,  where  they  may  prolong 
their  lives  and  enjoy  out-door  exercise  amid  perpetual 
bloom  and  loveliness. 

INDIGENOUS   PLANTS.    The  humid  atmosphere  of 


loo     CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

the  mountain  ranges  induces  a  most  luxuriant  growth  of 
trees  and  vines,  and  an  almost  impenetrable  thicket  or 
jungle  covers  a  large  part  of  the  interior  of  Hawaii, 
especially.  Here  are  forests  of  magnificent  trees  whose 
wood  is  beautifully  marked  and  colored  and  takes  a  high 
polish.  Mammoth  tree  ferns  thirty  feet  high  lend  added 
beauty  to  these  tropical  forests,  but  the  ie  ie  vine  is  by  far 
the  most  luxuriant  and  gorgeous  plant  of  Hawaiian  jungles. 
These  are  all  indigenous  plants,  and  it  is  in  such  places,  wild 
and  well-nigh  inaccessible,  that  one  gets  a  glimpse  of  the 
beauty  and  reckless  exuberance  of  tropical  growth. 
Writes  Miss  Sinclair,  in  her  "  Indigenous  Flowers  of  the 
Hawaiian  Islands : "  "  The  Hawaiian  flora  seems  (like  the 
native  human  inhabitant)  to  grow  in  an  easy,  careless  way, 
which,  though  pleasingly  artistic,  and  well  adapted  to  what 
may  be  termed  the  natural  state  of  the  Islands,  will  not 
long  survive  the  invasion  of  foreign  plants  and  changed 
conditions.  Forest  fires,  animals,  and  agriculture,  have  so 
changed  the  Islands,  within  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years, 
that  one  can  now  travel  for  miles,  in  some  districts,  with- 
out finding  a  single  indigenous  plant;  the  ground  being 
wholly  taken  possession  of  by  weeds,  shrubs,  and  grasses, 
imported  from  various  countries.  It  is  remarkable  that 
plants  from  both  tropical  and  temperate  regions  seem  to 
thrive  equally  well  on  these  Islands,  many  of  them  spread- 
ing as  if  by  magic,  and  rapidly  exterminating  much  of  the 


CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      loi 

r.ative  flora."  While  all  this  is  true  out  in  the  open,  and 
on  the  borders  of  the  woodlands,  it  is  in  no  sense  true  of 
Hawaiian  forests,  where  indigenous  trees  and  vines  still 
hold  undisputed  sway.  The  wonderful  productiveness  of 
the  Hilo  district  is  due  not  to  its  fertile  soil  but  to  the 
unfailing  water  supply  from  the  vast  wooded  swamp  just 
above  that  district.  Here  is  a  vast  belt  of  primitive  forest 
massed  below  in  a  net-work  of  vines  that  can  be  passed 
through  only  by  cutting.  Below  is  a  deep,  rich  soil  con- 
stantly being  borne  by  thousands  of  streams  to  the  sloping 
lands  along  the  coast.  This  is  the  forest  primeval,  which 
must  be  seen  to  get  any  appreciable  idea  of  the  indigenous 
plant  growth  of  this  group. 

Writes  Miss  Sinclair :  "  For  many  years  the  iliahi  or 
sandal-wood  tree  was  one  of  the  principal  sources  of 
revenue  of  the  Hawaiian  kings  and  chiefs.  So  vigorously 
did  they  prosecute  the  business  of  cutting  and  exporting 
it,  that  they  exhausted  the  supply,  and  to-day  it  is  a  very 
rare  tree,  although  frequently  found  as  a  shrub.  It  retains 
its  scent  in  a  wonderful  manner,  even  small  pieces  being 
quite  fragrant  after  a  lapse  of  forty  or  fifty  years." 

Bananas,  yams,  taro  and  other  edible  plants  are  found 
growing  wild  in  all  the  valleys  of  the  wooded  sections. 
Many  plants,  formerly  used  by  the  natives  for  making  fish- 
nets, and  kapa  or  native  cloth  and  ropes,  still  are  found  in 
the  valleys  and  on  the  slopes  of  wooded  hills. 


I02      CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

OWNERSHIP  OF  LAND.  Formerly  all  the  lands 
belonged  to  the  kings  and  chiefs.  The  common  people, 
however,  had  the  privilege,  hedged  about  by  a  system  of 
tabus  and  traditions,  of  going  to  the  woods  for  what  they 
wanted.  "  Great  numbers  of  the  inhabitants,"  writes  Miss 
Sinclair,  "went  into  the  mountain  districts  annually,  for 
various  purposes,  such  as  canoe-making,  bird-catching, 
wood  cutting,  gathering  medicinal  herbs,  and  many  other 
pursuits  of  pleasure  or  profit."  This  privilege  was  a  small 
return  for  what  was  at  best  practical  serfdom.  Ideas  of 
land  ownership  have  been  at  best  a  slow  growth  in  the 
native  mind.  After  the  abolition  of  the  tabu-system,  a 
dependent  relation  still  was  recognized  that  has  survived 
in  a  measure  even  to  the  present  time,  so  that  natives 
continue  to  live  on  land  and  claim  privileges  which  they 
never  have  had  any  legal  right  to. 

LAND  AWARDS.  So  strong  was  the  disposition  of 
the  common  people  to  adhere  to  the  old  system  of  de- 
pendence on  the  pleasure  of  chiefs  for  land  and  its  use, 
that  many  of  them  did  not  avail  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunity granted  in  1847  by  Kamehameha  III.  to  gain  title, 
through  a  land  commission,  to  the  lands  at  that  time  oc- 
cupied by  them.  In  a  population  of  over  100,000,  only 
about  11,000  claims  were  recorded.  This  indisposition  to 
become  owners  of  land  has  in  later  days  shown  itself  in 
a  readiness  to  part  with  such  lands  rather  than  work 


CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND   PRODUCTIONS.      103 

them.  This  fact  must  be  borne  in  mind  in  any  compre- 
hensive consideration  of  the  drift  of  Hawaiians  away 
from  the  soil  to  an  uncertain  life  and  employment  in  the 
city.  But  it  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  9  per  cent, 
of  the  entire  native  population,  counting  men,  women 
and  children,  are  actual  land-owners,  according  to  the 
census  of  1890;  or,  excluding  the  women  and  children,  2^ 
per  cent,  of  the  native  male  population  over  fifteen  years 
of  age,  representatives  of  the  households  of  the  race,  are 
land-owners,  or  one  man  in  four,  either  owning  the  land 
in  his  own  name  or  in  that  of  his  wife  or  of  some  one  of 
his  children.  Such  a  fact  condemns  at  once  the  cheap 
statement  that  Hawaiians  have  been  robbed  of  their  land. 
In  many  instances  they  still  own  some  of  the  very  best 
land  in  the  country,  and  in  some  instances  receive  a  prof- 
itable revenue  by  leasing  such  lands  to  plantations  and 
rice  planters. 

CROWN  LANDS.  In  the  great  maneie  or  division 
of  lands  under  Kamehameha  III.,  those  lands  reserv- 
ed by  the  king  for  his  own  use  and  the  use  of  his 
heirs  are  known  as  Crown  Lands.  These  lands  are 
very  extensive,  capable  of  improvement  that  would 
greatly  increase  their  value,  and  while  hitherto  the  in- 
come has  been  one  of  the  perquisites  of  royalty,  it  is 
now  proposed,  as  rapidly  as  possible,  to  divide  this  vast 
estate  into  homesteads  for  the  encouragement  of  small 


I04     CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

farming,  preference  being  given  in  the  assigment  of  lands 
to  native  Hawaiians. 

There  are  three  estates  comprising  a  large  part  of  the 
land  available  for  farming.  The  lands  known  as  Crown 
Lands  form  one  of  these,  the  government  lands  or  lands 
held  by  the  government  as  a  source  of  revenue  and  for 
the  public  good  form  another,  and  the  Bishop  estate  forms 
the  third.  The  government  lands  are  already  being  sub- 
divided and  leased  or  sold  outright  to  intending  settlers, 
the  purpose  being  to  stimulate  ownership  in  the  soil  and 
to  aid  the  development  of  small  industries.  The  Bishop 
estate  is  the  most  valuable  one  of  the  three,  probably,  and 
is  being  steadily  enhanced  in  value  by  improvements. 
This  estate  is  held  in  trust  by  trustees  who  manage  the 
estate  and  expend  the  income  in  sustaining  the  now 
renowned  Kamehameha  Schools.  This  estate  was  the 
bequest  of  Princess  Pauahi,  the  wife  of  Hon.  C.  R.  Bishop, 
to  whose  beneficence  her  husband  has  generously  added 
a  large  sum  in  defraying  the  expense  of  erecting  some  of 
the  handsome  buildings  on  the  school  grounds.  It  is  felt 
by  some  that  this  estate  should  ultimately  and  gradually 
be  broken  up  and  sold,  just  as  is  being  done  with  govern- 
ment lands,  and  as  it  is  proposed  to  do  with  the  Crown 
Lands. 

FOREIGN  ENTERPRISE.    A  very  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  land  now  under  cultivation  was  comparatively 


BEAUTIFUL  PALMS.  It  is  difficult  to  give  any  idea  of  the  luxuriant  growth  and 
beauty  of  the  trees  and  flowers  that  border  the  streets  of  Honolulu.  No  photographer, 
in  colorless  black  and  white,  can  do  justice  to  the  gardens  of  the  tropics  with  their 
graceful  palms  and  the  soft  shading  of  the  many  varieties  of  foliage. 


CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      107 

valueless  until  foreign  enterprise  and  capital  reclaimed  it. 
Much  of  it  was  arid  and  so  forbidding  that  in  some  cases 
it  had  never  come  under  cultivation  until  within  a  very 
few  years.  These  lands  were  worthless  for  Hawaiian 
farming  and  would  have  remained  an  unproductive  area 
had  it  not  been  for  foreign  capital  and  energy  and  grit. 
Thus  the  largest  plantation  at  Spreckelsville,  the  two  re- 
markable plantations  at  Ewa  and  Makaweli,  to  say  nothing 
of  others,  show  what  American  enterprise  can  accomplish 
in  the  face  of  grave  difficulties. 

At  Spreckelsville,  an  immense  area  of  sandy  plain  was 
brought  under  cultivation  by  the  digging  of  an  irrigating 
ditch  conveying  water  from  mountain  streams  seventeen 
miles  away.  The  original  ditch  of  this  kind  was  con- 
structed for  the  Haiku  lands  in  1878  at  a  cost  of  ^80,000. 
It  was  over  thirteen  miles  long,  the  larger  part  being  dug 
through  dense  woods,  provisions  for  the  small  army  of 
workers  being  transported  to  the  camps,  as  they  moved 
onward,  by  means  of  roads  cut  through  the  virgin  forests. 
Two  hundred  men  were  employed  on  this  ditch  and  it 
required  a  year  to  build  it,  but,  when  finished,  it  brought 
water  on  to  lands  that  now  constitute  one  of  the  best 
sugar  estates  on  the  Islands.  An  enterprise  requiring  a 
larger  expenditure  and  encountering  greater  difficulties  was 
the  Makaweli  ditch  on  the  island  of  Kauai.  The  water  for 
this  ditch  is  taken  from  a  large  stream  just  below  the 


loS      CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

beautiful  Hanapepe  falls.  The  ditch  is  thirteen  and  a  half 
miles  long.  In  the  first  seven  miles  from  the  point  where 
the  water  is  taken  from  the  stream,  there  were  16,000  feet 
of  ditching,  two  miles  of  which  was  through  the  solid 
rock;  12,000  feet  of  wooden  fluming,  requiring  6oo,oqo 
feet  of  redwood  lumber ;  6,000  feet  of  steel  piping,  forty 
inches  in  diameter,  and  from  one-eighth  to  five-sixteenths 
of  an  inch  in  thickness;  and  over  one  thousand  feet  of 
tunneling  through  solid  rock.  Four  substantial  iron 
bridges  carry  the  pipe  across  the  canyon,  three  with  a 
span  of  100  feet  each,  and  one  with  a  span  of  140  feet. 
Several  inverted  siphons  were  used,  one  being  400  feet 
deep  and  1900  feet  long. 

The  entire  cost  was  ^1^,013.  The  capacity  of  the 
ditch  is  60  cubic  feet  per  second,  or  5,184,000  gallons  per 
day.  An  ancient  crater  was  utilized  as  a  storage  reservoir, 
having  a  capacity  of  4^,000,000  gallons,  being  900  feet 
across  at  the  top  and  30  feet  deep.  The  land  made  avail- 
able for  cultivation  by  the  construction  of  this  ditch  is 
about  7000  acres  in  extent,  making  the  cost  for  the  original 
outlay  about  ^22  per  acre.  Nothing  but  dauntless  energy 
could  have  undertaken  and  consummated  such  an  enter- 
prise. The  man  who  did  it  is  the  originator  of  the  Haiku 
ditch, — a  man  who  has  individually  done  more  for  the 
industrial  development  of  Hawaii  than  any  other  person, 
albeit  the  son  of  a  missionary.     Beginning  as  a  poor  man, 


CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      109 

and  more  than  once  jeopardizing  all  his  gains  by  daring 
schemes,  demanding  large  capital  and  indomitable  energy, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  he  could  have  contributed,  in  any 
other  way,  a  larger  permanent  blessing  to  the  land  of  his 
birth  than  he  has  by  his  phenomenal  success  in  converting 
large  waste  areas  into  waving  fields  of  cane. 

The  Ewa  plantation  is  on  land  that  was  unsuitable 
even  for  pasturage  until  American  capital  and  enterprise 
conceived  the  project  of  irrigating  those  barren  plains  by 
means  of  artesian  water,  pumped  into  flumes,  and  borne 
to  the  fields  as  wanted.  Accordingly  twenty-four  artesian 
wells  were  sunk,  in  close  proximity,  and  enormous  pumps 
erected,  and  there  is  now  a  supply  from  this  source  with- 
out any  indications  of  a  decrease  in  the  flow,  of  20,000,000 
gallons  per  day. 

BENEFICENT  MISSION  OF  AMERICAN  CAPITAL. 
It  may  truthfully  be  said  that  American  capital  and  enter- 
prise have  largely  exerted  themselves  in  Hawaii  in  making 
lands  productive  that  were  unproductive,  and  in  doing  this 
native  land  holdings  have  not  been  affected,  except  as 
they  have  appreciated  in  value  due  to  their  proximity  to  a 
market  for  their  products  thus  created  almost  at  their  door. 
The  industrial  development  of  Hawaii  under  American 
leadership  marks  an  epoch  hardly  less  phenomenal  than 
the  great  religious  awakening  under  the  devoted  labors 
of  American  missionaries.    This  development  was  rapid, 


no     CLLAIATK,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

under  the  forcing  stimulus  of  the  Reciprocity  Treaty 
with  the  United  States,  and  revolutionized  the  industrial 
relations  of  the  country.  So  rapid  was  this  development 
that  it  was  not  altogether  in  wise  directions.  Some  vital 
problems  are  yet  unsettled,  and  others  are  still  to  be  met, 
incidental  to  this  marvelous  expansion  of  Hawaii's  agri- 
cultural resources. 

LABOR  PROBLEMS.  Cane  growing  by  the  planta- 
tion system  has  meant  to  Hawaii  what  it  has  to  other 
sugar-growing  countries,  viz.,  the  employment  of  an  ig- 
norant class  of  laborers  working  at  low  wages,  and  the 
ignoring  and  crippling  of  small  industries  so  essential  to 
the  wholesome  growth  of  agricultural  communities.  To 
properly  man  the  plantations,  Chinese,  Japanese  and  Por- 
tugese laborers  have  been  imported  into  Hawaii,  the  latter 
soon  leaving  the  plantations  for  other  employment,  nota- 
bly small  farming.  The  Japanese  have  returned  in  large 
numbers  to  their  own  country,  and  yet  counted  in  1891 
about  17,000,  the  Chinese  population  at  that  time  being 
about  1^,000,  although  in  1889  they  numbered  over  19,000. 
So  long  as  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  remained  on  the 
sugar  and  rice  plantations  there  was  no  labor  agitation  in 
Hawaii.  But  when,  in  188^,  the  Chinese  began  to  invade 
other  occupations,  followed  later  by  a  like  invasion,  on  a 
smaller  scale,  by  the  Japanese,  the  Asiatic  question  be- 
came the  leading  political  issue.     It  was  not  whether 


COCOANUT  PALMS— The  Cocoanut  Palms  are  natives  of  all  the  Islands  in 
the  Pacific.  They  are  found  where  nothing  else  can  grow,  fringing  the  shores 
of  the  smallest  coral  reefs  that  rise  above  the  ocean.  The  long  slender  trunks 
often  reach  the  height  of  a  hundred  feet. 


CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      113 

Asiatics  should  be  tolerated,  but  whether  Anglo-Saxon 
civilization  should  protect  itself  against  threatened  sub- 
mergence. Restrictive  legislation  was  the  immediate  out- 
come, but  the  real  problem  remains  yet  for  solution.  A 
vigorous,  intelligent  and  influential  element  in  the  foreign 
population  of  Hawaii  are  convinced  that  the  true  policy  in 
that  land  is  to  build  up  a  thrifty,  law-abiding  community 
of  small  farmers.  Hon.  S.  B.  Dole,  the  President  of  the 
Provisional  Government,  indicated  this  conviction  in  re- 
marks made  by  him  before  the  Advisory  Council  in  May, 
1893.  "  It  is  easy  to  understand,"  he  says,  "that  certain 
radical  changes  in  the  land  policy  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands 
would  cause  havoc  in  important  established  enterprises, 
especially  if  abruptly  made.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a 
matter  of  rapidly  growing  sentiment  in  the  Hawaiian  com- 
munity that  a  liberal  policy  of  opening  for  settlement  suit- 
able portions  of  the  public  lands  by  actual  occupiers,  has 
become  a  necessity  to  the  social  and  industrial  progress 
of  our  varied  population.  This  sentiment  is  emphasized 
by  a  rapidly  increasing  demand  for  land  in  small  parcels 
for  cultivation  and  residence.  It  is  the  desire  of  the 
executive,  if  circumstances  permit,  to  inaugurate  a 
comprehensive  policy  of  opening  public  land  for  settle- 
ment and  cultivation  in  answer  to  this  public  demand, 
which,  without  interfering  with  established  industrial 
enterprises,  may  lay  the  foundation  for  individual  wel- 


114     CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

fare  and  contentment,  and  therefore  of  enhanced  public 
prosperity." 

CO-OPERATIVE  CANE  PLANTING.  In  line  with 
this  sentiment,  successful  experiments  have  been  under- 
taken by  sugar  planters  to  modify  even  the  plantation 
system,  so  as  to  relieve  the  country  from  the  necessity  of 
importing  cheap  labor  under  the  contract  system.  The 
co-operative  system  of  cane-growing  as  managed  at  Ewa 
plantation  for  the  past  two  years  is  likely  to  be  extended. 
The  individual  receives  thus  a  larger  income  than  when 
working  for  wages,  and  the  owners  have  lost  nothing  by 
the  change.  The  system  in  brief  consists  in  the  assign- 
ment to  each  individual  of  a  piece  of  land  for  cultivation, 
the  plantation  owner  furnishing  lodging  for  the  man  and 
his  family,  medicine  and  medical  attendance,  first  equip- 
ment of  tools,  water  for  irrigating,  seed  cane,  and  the 
privilege  of  procuring  fuel  by  the  tenant  for  himself. 
The  employer,  likewise,  clears,  plows,  harrows,  and  fur- 
rows the  land  preparatory  to  planting.  The  tenant,  on  his 
part,  plants,  cultivates,  cuts,  and  delivers  the  cane  on  the 
cars  for  transportation  to  the  mill.  All  the  work  is  under 
the  supervision  of  the  manager,  in  the  sense  that, 
irrespective  of  the  hours  of  labor,  the  work  done  must  be 
satisfactory  to  the  interests  of  the  plantation.  One-fourth 
of  the  gross  receipts  from  the  land  thus  assigned  goes  to 
the  laborer,  after  deducting  advances  made  to  him.    Else- 


CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND   PRODUCTIONS.      115 

where  than  at  Ewa,  co-operative  cane-planting  has  been 
experimented  with  and  with  uniform  success. 

This  presages  a  radical  change  in  the  labor  system  of 
Hawaiian  plantations.  The  great  advantage  of  the  co- 
operative plan  lies  in  stimulating  an  individual  interest  in 
this  important  industry  and  in  attaching  to  the  soil  a 
permanent  class  of  farmers.  Successfully  adapted  to  all 
plantations  it  would  obviate  the  necessity  of  importing 
laborers  from  abroad,  and  would  conserve  the  interests  of 
Anglo-Saxon  civilization. 

LEASEHOLD  SYSTEM.  The  location  on  the  land  of 
a  class  of  farmers,  identified  with  the  industrial  interests 
of  the  owners  of  such  land,  means  ultimately  the  acqui- 
sition by  lease  of  lands  thus  worked,  and  perhaps  their 
ownership  in  due  course  in  fee  simple.  One  scheme  that 
has  been  broached  aims  at  a  complete  reorganization  of 
the  plantation  system.  It  provides  for  the  gradual  dis- 
memberment of  the  large  sugar  estates  into  leaseholds  of 
from  five  to  twenty  or  thirty  acres  each,  according  to 
locality.  These  leaseholds  are  to  be  taken  up  by  respon- 
sible laborers  who  wish  to  make  the  getting  of  such  a 
home  dependent  on  their  industry,  frugality  and  enter- 
prise. Such  leaseholds  could  be  leased  for  a  term  of 
years,  with  proper  conditions  that  would  secure  the  inter- 
ests of  the  mill-owners,  and  not  operate  against  the  in- 
terests of  the  industrious  planter.     Eventually,  the  planter 


ii6     CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

becoming  attached  to  the  land,  and  the  mill-owner  rec- 
ognizing the  reliability  of  the  tenant,  the  land  could  be 
deeded  over  to  the  tenant.  This  would  hardly  prove  too 
expensive  an  inducement  for  the  mill-owners  to  offer  to 
planters,  considering  the  value  of  permanent  settlers  on 
the  land,  engaged  in  cane-growing.  The  urgent  reforms 
needed  in  Hawaii,  and  likely  soon  to  be  accomplished,  are 
(i)  the  placing  of  more  of  its  people  on  land  of  their 
own,  thus  encouraging  thrift  and  contentment  and  social 
progress,  and  (2)  the  management  of  the  chief  industry 
so  as  to  contribute  toward  the  same  general  result. 
These  are  popular  reforms  in  Hawaii.  There  is  a  natural 
hesitancy  as  to  the  method  of  accomplishing  what  there 
is  general  unanimity  in  agreeing  to  be  Hawaii's  ultimate 
social  and  industrial  constitution.  This  little  country  is  at 
work  on  serious  problems,  affecting  the  social  and  indus- 
trial status  of  its  population,  but  it  is  at  work  on  right 
lines,  and  its  intelligent  and  influential  citizens  may  be 
counted  on  to  serve  their  adopted  land  in  these  directions 
as  ably  as  they  have  in  others. 

CANE  FIELDS.  Sugar  is  king  in  Hawaii  much  as 
wheat  is  in  the  Northwest.  It  is  not  the  only  crop  that 
can  be  raised,  or  that  is  raised,  but  it  is  at  present  the  most 
available  and  profitable  one,  and  therefore  engages  the 
capital  of  the  country  and  furnishes  work  to  the  largest 
number.    Thus,  in  1890,  there  were  i8,95'9  laborers  em- 


o  & 


CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      119 

ployed  on  the  plantations.  This  does  not  include  skilled 
laborers  or  those  dependent  for  wages  or  salary  on  the 
prosperity  of  this  industry,  not  directly  connected  with 
plantation  work.  The  land  under  cane  cultivation  in  1890 
amounted  to  64,149  acres,  located  on  the  four  islands  of 
Hawaii,  Maui,  Oahu,  and  Kauai.  This  land  is  divided  into 
about  sixty  plantations,  producing  each  from  300  to  13,000 
tons  of  sugar  per  annum,  the  total  product  in  1893  amount- 
ing to  152,621  tons. 

When  we  go  out  into  the  country,  however,  we  forget 
about  figures  and  rather  marvel  at  the  extensive  fields  of 
growing  cane,  at  the  steam  plows  and  steam  cultivators,  at 
the  complicated  system  of  irrigation,  at  the  steam  cars  and 
portable  railways,  at  the  magnificent  flow  of  artesian  water, 
at  the  costly  flumes,  and  well  appointed  mills  equipped 
with  the  latest  improved  machinery,  and  the  novel  expe- 
dients for  shipping  sugar  on  a  dangerous  coast,  and  the 
whole  atmosphere  of  doing  things  on  a  large  scale  in  a 
land  of  otherwise  small  things.  Think  of  passing  through 
cane  that  yields  ten  tons  of  sugar  per  acre  1  That  means 
not  less  than  one  hundred  tons  of  plant  growth  to  the 
acre,  for  at  the  rate  of  eight  and  a  half  tons  of  cane,  as 
carried  to  the  mill,  per  ton  of  sugar,  as  generally  estimated, 
we  should  have  eighty-five  tons,  and  the  tops  and  stools 
left  in  the  field  would  certainly  make  fifteen  tons  more. 
Such  a  yield,  however,  is  exceptional,  occurring  only  on 


I20     CLLMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

specially  rich  alluvial  soil,  the  ordinary  yield  being  only 
about  three  tons  per  acre.  As  it  requires  from  eighteen  to 
twenty  months  for  a  crop  to  mature,  it  will  be  understood 
why  the  annual  output  as  stated  in  the  census  of  1890  is 
only  about  two  tons  per  acre. 

It  is  an  inspiring  experience  to  ride  through  a  cane-field 
a  thousand  or  more  acres  in  extent.  In  such  a  trip,  at  the 
busiest  season,  one  can  see  the  cane  in  all  stages  of 
growth,  and  note  all  the  varied  work  of  planting,  cultivat- 
ing, irrigating,  stripping,  cutting,  transporting  to  the  mill, 
and  clearing  for  the  new  crop.  Here  is  a  gang  of  China- 
men, slashing  right  and  left  as  they  cut  the  cane  for  the 
mill.  'Yonder  a  long  train  of  cars  is  being  backed  by  a 
locomotive  through  the  tall  cane  to  be  loaded  for  the  mill. 
Here  is  a  field  dotted  with  Japanese  in  their  airy  garb, 
planting  the  seed  cane.  Yonder  some  noisy  Hawaiians 
are  driving  bullock  carts  with  bags  of  plant  cane.  This 
may  be  a  plantation  and  these  may  be  coolies,  but  man 
who  works  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow  has  nowhere  an 
easier  lot  or  is  better  paid  for  his  labor  at  its  true  value 
than  right  here  on  these  cane-fields  of  Hawaii.  With  a 
proper  adjustment  of  conditions  favorable  to  a  permanent 
residence,  the  same  work  now  done  by  Chinese  and 
Japanese  could  be  profitably  done  by  many  American 
farmers  at  greater  advantage  to  their  pockets  and  peace  of 
mind  than  by  continued  toiling  in  the  homeland  in  an 


CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      121 

uphill  struggle  with  winter  and  mortgage  and  a  failure  of 
crops. 

SUGAR-MAKING.  The  heaviest  investment  of  capi- 
tal in  the  sugar  business  is  in  the  mill.  The  progress  in 
mill  methods  and  machineiy  has  been  marvellous  in  the 
history  of  sugar-making  in  Hawaii.  From  the  crude 
wooden  affair  run  by  mules,  to  the  elaborate  and  per- 
fected maceration  or  diffusion  plants,  now  installed  in  all 
the  mills,  is  a  notable  advance.  The  diffusion  process  is 
in  highest  favor,  though  there  are  strong  advocates  of  the 
maceration  system.  The  latter  consists  in  grinding  to  ex- 
tract the  bulk  of  the  juice,  and  then,  after  having  subjected 
the  crushed  cane  to  a  thorough  saturation  with  steam,  in 
regrinding  the  mass  to  secure  all  the  additional  juice  pos- 
sible. The  diffusion  process  consists  in  cutting  the  cane 
by  means  of  revolving  knives  into  thin  slices,  which  in 
turn  are  submitted  to  hydraulic  and  steam  pressure,  prac- 
tically expelling  about  97  per  cent,  of  the  sugar.  After 
the  juice  is  thus  extracted  it  passes  through  filters  into 
clarifiers,  where  it  is  heated  and  skimmed,  passing  thence 
into  the  quadruple  effect  from  large  connected  boilers. 
These  boilers  ordinarily  hold  four  thousand  gallons,  and 
the  amount  boiled  every  twenty-four  hours  is  not  far  from 
385,000  gallons.  From  these  boilers  the  syrup  passes  into 
cooling  tanks ;  thence  into  vacuum  pans,  where  it  is  boiled 
until  it  granulates,  passing  finally  into  large  containers. 


122      CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

From  these  containers  it  passes  into  centrifugals,  which  free 
it  of  all  molasses  or  syrup,  and  the  sugar,  all  ready  for 
bagging,  drops  into  the  bin  below.  Day  and  night  in 
grinding-time  the  work  goes  steadily  on.  Each  mill  has 
its  electric  plant,  and  every  convenience  for  the  econom- 
ical manufacture  of  this  great  staple.  The  fitting  climax 
of  the  work  in  the  field  and  in  the  mill  is  in  the  person 
of  the  comfortable  Kanaka  teamster  who,  perched  on  his 
load  of  sugar  just  bagged,  regales  himself  with  a  juicy  stick 
of  cane.  What  a  contrast  between  our  labored  processes 
of  procuring  our  sweetening,  and  his  getting  at  once  to 
the  marrow  of  things! 

RICE  GROWING.  The  rice  fields  are  all  in  the  hands 
of  the  Chinese.  They  do  not  own  the  land,  to  be  sure, 
but  they  do  monopolize  the  business.  This  is  not  because 
they  have  crowded  out  others  by  competition,  but  because 
they  are  the  only  ones  who  understand  rice-growing,  or 
who  care  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  It  is  not  an  un- 
profitable crop,  but  an  exacting  one  in  ways  not  altogether 
agreeable.  Thus,  after  the  necessary  plowing  and  har- 
rowing, the  rice  fields  are  submerged,  and  all  the  work 
thereafter  must  be  done  in  the  water.  Chinamen  take 
to  this  work  like  ducks,  though  ordinarily  they  have  a 
cat's  dread  of  water. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  methods  of  cultivation 
and   the  means  employed  on  a  rice  swamp  with  the 


CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      123 

methods  and  means  used  on  a  sugar  plantation.  On  the 
latter,  advantage  is"  taken  of  every  labor-saving  device, 
and  the  methods  are  modern  and  in  keeping  with  agri- 
cultural progress.  On,  or  rather  in,  a  rice  swamp,  the 
tools  and  appliances  are  crude  and  primitive,  and  the 
methods  are  those  followed  probably  a  thousand  years 
ago  in  conservative  China.  Chinese  buffaloes,  a  sort  of 
half-cow  and  half-pig,  who  never  have  known  in  any 
preceding  generation  what  it  was  to  do  anything  else, 
leisurely  toil  along  with  the  crudest  kind  of  a  wooden 
plow  turning  the  rich  soil  to  the  air.  One  small  field 
is  thickly  sown  with  rice  seed,  so  that  the  plants  are 
about  six  inches  high  when  the  time  for  planting  arrives, 
making  a  solid  carpet  of  green,  so  peculiar  that  it  reminds 
one  of  the  old  hymn : — 

"Sweet  fields  beyond    'le  swelling  flood 
Stand  dressed  in  living  green." 

These  plants  are  carried  in  great  bales  on  the  backs 
of  Chinamen  to  the  fields  where  the  planting  is  going 
on.  Here  the  bales  are  broken  up,  each  man  taking 
enough  for  a  row  and  planting  with  one  hand  by  stoop- 
ing and  pushing  a  half-dozen  plants,  root  down,  into  the 
mud  below  the  surface  of  the  water.  Chinese  exactness 
shows  itself  here  in  the  accuracy  with  which  these  rows 
are  kept  straight  and  at  equal  distances  apart.    All  the  culti- 


124     CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

vating  is  done  by  hand  without  tools  of  any  kind.  Finally, 
after  the  rice  matures,  and  the  water  has  been  drained  off 
for  the  ripening  of  the  straw,  the  Chinamen  harvest  their 
crop  with  little  hand-sickles,  an  infantile  operation  that 
makes  one  dream  of  Eden.  After  a  day  of  drying  in  the 
sun,  the  rice  is  bundled  up  by  hand,  a  bale  hung  on  each 
end  of  a  stick,  which  is  lifted  to  the  shoulders  of  a  China- 
man, and  a  procession  of  twenty  or  more  thus  ladened, 
move  in  a  dog-trot  to  the  threshing  floor,  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  away.  The  operations  on  a  rice  field  are  engrossing 
because  so  unique,  but  one  always  comes  away  with  a 
sensation  of  tiredness  and  a  new  conception  of  the  an- 
tiquity of  man. 

COFFEE  GROWING.  The  soil  in  a  great  many  parts 
of  Hawaii,  which  is  unfitted  for  sugar  or  rice  growing,  is 
admirably  adapted  to  the  growth  of  coffee.  As  a  result  of 
the  investigations  conducted  by  experts  from  other  coffee 
countries,  renewed  stimulus  has  been  given  to  the  coffee 
industry.  At  last  reports  over  two  thousand  acres  had 
been  planted  in  accordance  with  improved  methods,  and 
this  industry  bids  fair  in  the  near  future  to  become  second 
only  to  that  of  sugar.  The  excellent  feature  about  coffee 
planting  is  that  it  can  be  successfully  carried  on  by  small 
farmers,  thus  encouraging  the  settlement  of  that  class  on 
lands  now  lying  fallow  but  capable  under  cultivation  of 
sustaining  a  large  population.    This  industry  has  for  many 


CLIMATE,   SOIL  AND   PRODUCTIONS.     125 

years  furnished  the  main  support  of  large  numbers  of 
natives  in  Kona,  Hawaii.  The  coffee  from  that  district  is 
celebrated  for  its  fine  flavor,  and  commands  a  high  price  in 
Honolulu. 

DIVERSIFIED  INDUSTRIES.  Thoughtful  men  in 
Hawaii  have  for  many  years  agitated  the  subject  of  divers- 
ifying the  industries  of  the  country.  So  long  as  capital 
could  be  advantageously  invested  in  sugar  growing,  little 
more  came  of  the  discussion  than  attempts  to  ascertain 
what  productive  plants  were  suited  to  the  climate,  and 
what  ones  could  probably  be  cultivated  profit:.bly.  Now 
that  capital  finds  less  remunerative  returns  in  cane  grow- 
ing, it  is  more  inclined  to  test  the  merits  of  other  enter- 
prises. This  accounts,  in  part,  for  th:  renewed  interest  in 
coffee  culture.  A  law  recently  establishing  a  Bureau  of 
Agriculture  and  Forestry,  provides  for  free  public  lectures 
and  the  distribution  of  information  useful  to  agriculturists, 
stock-raisers  and  others ;  also  the  securing  from  abroad  of 
such  knowledge,  seeds,  and  plants  as  may  be  beneficial  to 
the  agricultural  and  commercial  interests  of  the  Islands,  the 
collection  and  dissemination  of  knowledge  on  textile  fibers, 
the  utility  of  island  woods,  or  other  products,  and  to  aid 
forest  conservation.  It  also  provides  for  experimental  cul- 
tivation for  public  benefit,  the  offering  of  premiums  for 
encouragement  of  new  agricultural  enterprises,  the  utiliza- 
tion of  waste  products,  and  the  eradication  of  injurious 


126      CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

insects  and  weeds.  Thus  at  various  points  hopeful  ex- 
periments are  now  being  conducted  in  the  cultivation  of 
sisal,  the  chocolate  tree,  nutmeg,  rubber  and  camphor 
The  ramie  plant  grows  luxuriantly. 

Hawaii  is  without  question  on  the  threshold  of  a  new 
industrial  development  fraught  with  most  encouraging  and 
far-seeing  results  to  the  political  and  social  prosperity  of 
that  land.  When  the  country  is  no  longer  dependent  on  a 
singL  staple,  and  a  larger  proportion  of  its  people  are  on 
land  of  their  own,  raising  profitable  crops  that  can  be 
exported  to  the  common  advantage,  Hawaii  will  in  all 
respects  become  one  of  the  most  favored  spots  in  the 
world.  All  this  is  probable  and  that  too  within  a  com- 
paratively short  period. 

RECIPROCITY  TREATY.  In  1876  a  treaty  between 
Hawaii  and  the  United  States  was  ratified,  which  admitted 
Hawaiian  sugar  into  United  States  ports  free  of  duty.  The 
motive  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  was  ostensibly 
to  strengthen  the  commercial  relations  between  the  two 
countries,  but  political  considerations  had  weighty  influ- 
ence in  the  United  States  Senate,  both  when  the  treaty 
was  originally  negotiated  and  particularly  when  it  was 
renewed  seven  years  later.  It  was  admitted  by  advocates 
of  the  treaty  that  Hawaii  received  by  far  the  greater  com- 
mercial advantage  under  the  operation  of  this  treaty,  but 
it  was  successfully  urged  that  it  was  of  utmost  importance 


A1ANGOES. — The  Mangoe  is  an  Kast  Indian  fruit,  growing  at  the  Islands  in 
such  abundance  that  immense  quantities  are  allowed  to  decay  every  season.  The 
Hawaiian  Mangoe  has  but  little  of  the  turpentine  flavor  of  the  Indian  variety, 
is  sweet,  juicv  and  fragrent.  There  are  nv.mcrois  varieties,  differing  in  size, 
color  and  flavor. 


CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      129 

to  maintain  such  relations  with  Hawaii  as  would  pre- 
clude any  closer  alliance  of  that  country  with  any  foreign 
power.  The  result  has  justified  the  concessions  made  by 
that  treaty,  for  American  influence  and  sentiment  overtop 
everything  else  in  Hawaii.  This  is  true  among  all  classes, 
there  being  a  distinctly  favorable  sentiment  toward  the 
United  States,  and  a  conviction  of  the  ultimate  absorption 
of  the  Islands  by  this  country,  even  among  those  who 
oppose  such  policy  at  this  time. 

BENEFITS  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES.  Commer- 
cially the  benefits  to  this  country  have  not  been  insignifi- 
cant. Thus,  the  total  commerce  between  Hawaii  and  the 
United  States,  in  1891,  amounted  to  ^19,002,809.  Of  this 
sum  the  imports  into  the  United  States  were  valued  at 
^13,89^,^97,  while  the  exports  to  Hawaii  amounted  to 
only  ^^,107,212.  That  is,  Hawaii  sent  to  the  United  States 
^8,788,38^  worth  more  than  she  received  back  in  trade. 
Of  this  sum,  however,  only  ^912,7^0  was  exported  to 
Hawaii  in  gold,  leaving  an  unaccounted-for  balance  of 
^7,87^,63^  as  apparent  loss  to  Hawaii  in  this  single  year's 
trade.  The  probability  is  that  much  of  this  can  be  ac- 
counted for  as  dividends  to  American  stockholders  in  Ha- 
waiian plantations,  and  as  borrowed  capital  repaid,  and  as 
investments  in  the  United  States.  The  least  that  can  be 
said  about  it  is  that,  inasmuch  as  this  balance  never  found 
its  way  back  to  Hawaii,  it  must  have  remained  in  the 


I30     CLIMATE,    SOIL   AND   PRODUCTIONS. 

United  States,  and  this  country  profited  to  just  that  degree 
in  its  trade  with  little  Hawaii.  That  the  record  for  1891 
was  not  exceptional,  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  there 
was  a  similar  balance  in  the  trade  with  Hawaii  for  the  ten 
years  previous  to  189 1,  averaging  $^,7^2,014  per  annum. 
However  interesting  it  may  be  to  speculate  on  what  be- 
came of  this  large  amount,  we  know  it  did  not  go  back 
and  that  it  did  remain  in  this  country.  This  must  enter 
into  any  consideration  of  the  benefits  received  by  the 
United  States  under  its  Reciprocity  Treaty  with  Hawaii. 
Another  less  elusive  class  of  benefits  which,  however,  do 
not  figure  in  any  table  of  exports  and  imports,  are  such 
facts  as  these :  that  the  carrying  trade  is  and  has  been  dur- 
ing all  the  years  since  the  ratification  of  this  treaty,  almost 
altogether  in  American  bottoms ;  that  the  numerous  inter- 
island  steamers  necessitated  by  the  increased  production 
have  been  built  in  the  United  States ;  that  the  bulk  of  the 
insurances  has  been  in  American  companies;  and  that 
large  sums  have  been  spent  during  all  these  years  by 
Hawaiian  residents  in  the  United  States  in  ways  that  do 
not  appear  in  custom-house  statistics.  The  benefits  which 
the  United  States  received  under  this  treaty  in  1891,  for 
instance,  consisted  partly  in  building  up  an  export  trade 
with  Hawaii,  ranking  second  in  the  exports  from  San  Fran- 
cisco ;  and  in  receiving  from  Hawaii  an  import  trade  rank- 
ing first  in  the  imports  into  San  Francisco,  being  double 


CLIMATE.   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      131 

the  trade  from  China  or  Japan,  three  times  that  from  Great 
Britain,  four  times  that  from  Central  America,  and  double 
that  from  Mexico,  South  America,  Australia  and  the  Indies 
combined.  Relatively  to  population,  there  is  no  foreign 
country  in  the  world  with  which  America  has  so  large  a 
commerce. 

BENEFITS  TO  HAWAII.  Under  the  operation  of  the 
treaty  of  reciprocity  between  the  two  countries,  the  pro- 
duction of  sugar  increased  from  26,072,429  pounds  in  1876 
to  2^9,798,462  pounds  in  1890,  or  over  996  per  cent. 
During  the  same  period,  the  production  of  the  second 
great  staple,  rice,  increased  from  2,2^9,324  pounds  to  10,- 
^79,000  pounds,  or  468  per  cent.  This  phenomenal  in- 
crease, under  the  stimulus  of  the  special  tariff  exemption 
of  the  treaty,  brought  large  benefits  to  Hawaii  in  the 
development  of  unused  land ;  the  reclamation  of  wild  and 
barren  areas ;  the  erection  of  costly  mills ;  the  construction 
of  inter-island  steamers ;  the  furnishing  of  profitable  em- 
ployment to  its  people;  the  increase  of  its  revenue,  and 
the  consequent  improvement  of  its  harbors  and  roads ;  and 
the  building  of  expensive  railroads,  thus  opening  up  new 
territory  that  can  be  utilized  for  small  farming,  but  which 
was  before  too  inaccessible  to  induce  settlement. 

NOT  AN  UNMIXED  BLESSING.  The  treaty,  how- 
ever, has  not  proved  an  unmixed  blessing  to  the  Islands. 
It  has  produced  a  sort  of  congestion  of  capital  in  a  single 


132     CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

great  industry,  thus  crippling  small  industries  and  di^ 
couraging  the  opening  of  new  ones.  It  has  directed  at- 
tention towards  industrial  development  to  the  practical 
ignoring  of  the  more  vital  questions  of  a  permanently 
beneficial  immigration  and  a  liberal  homestead  policy.  It 
has  made  the  Islands  commercially  dependent  on  the 
United  States,  a  dependence  which,  in  view  of  existing 
tariff  laws,  is  of  questionable  advantage  to  Hawaii.  It 
has  proved  a  sort  of  commercial  forcing  process,  the  ben- 
efits of  which  have  largely  accrued  to  the  United  States, 
while  the  evils  have  been  wholly  borne  by  Hawaii.  It  is 
to  the  overcoming  and  rectification  of  these  evils  that  the 
thoughtful  men  of  that  country  are  now  directing  them- 
selves. There  is  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  social  prob- 
lems that  have  grown  up  with  mushroom  rapidity,  and 
quite  as  laudable  a  purpose,  and  one  as  likely  of  accom- 
plishment, within  reasonable  limits,  as  is  called  out  in  this 
great  country  by  similar  problems. 

COMMERCIAL  IMPORTANCE.  The  census  of  1890 
shov/s  that  the  exports  of  Hawaii  "are  now,  and  have  been 
for  some  years  past,  larger  in  proportion  of  its  population 
than  those  of  any  other  country  in  the  world,  Australia 
standing  next  on  the  list.  In  the  last  ten  years  we  have, 
with  an  average  population  of  not  more  than  eighty  thou- 
sand, exported  produce  worth,  in  round  numbers,  ninety- 
nine  millions  of  dollars,  or  an  average  of  nearty  one  hundred 


NIGHT-BLOOMING  CEREUS.  Probably  there  is  no  better  place  in  the  world  to 
see  the  night-bloomiug  cereus  in  all  its  glorious  beauty  than  Honolulu.  At  the  sea- 
son of  its  blossoming  thousands  of  flowers  open  in  a  single  night.  The  flowers  often 
measure  twelve  inches  in  diameter,  averaging  much  larger  than  tho  usual  hot-house 
specimens. 


CLIMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS.      135 

and  twenty-five  dollars  per  annum  for  every  man,  woman 
and  child  in  this  country."  It  is  not  their  productiveness, 
however,  but  their  location  that  gives  to  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  their  unique  commercial  importance.  "  Situated  as 
they  are,  in  mid-ocean,  in  the  direct  channels  of  the  great 
and  growing  commerce  between  the  western  coast  of 
America  and  New  Zealand,  Australia,  the  Indies,  China  and 
Japan,  the  islands  afford  safe  as  well  as  most  convenient 
harbors,  not  only  for  shelter,  repairs  and  equipment,  but 
for  supplies  to  all  the  ships  that  traverse  the  Pacific." 

This  strategic  position  of  Hawaii  is  appreciated  at  its 
true  value  by  the  two  nations  most  vitally  concerned. 
Thus,  the  London  Times :  "  The  narrow  land-locked  inlet 
or  lagoon  named  Pearl  River  Harbor  is  in  itself  small  in  ab- 
solute extent,  but  it  is  of  inestimable  value  to  any  civilized 
nation  possessing  it  and  using  it  for  naval  purposes."  In  a 
report  to  the  National  Board  of  Trade  in  1883,  its  specially 
appointed  committee  said:  "Already  far-seeing  men  look 
forward  to  the  day  when  the  commerce  of  the  Pacific 
shall  rival  that  of  the  Atlantic.  With  our  long  stretch  of 
coast  upon  that  ocean  and  its  finest  harbors  in  our  posses- 
sion, the  United  States  must  guard  jealously  her  interests 
there." 

POLITICAL  IMPORTANCE.  To  the  United  States 
the  commercial  and  political  value  of  Hawaii  is  of  admitted 
importance.    The  industrial  development  of  those  Islands 


136     CLLMATE,   SOIL   AND    PRODUCTIONS. 

has  been  the  product  of  political  considerations  which 
compelled  the  United  States  to  foster  its  interests  there. 
Those  political  considerations  are  as  pertinent  now  as  they 
ever  have  been.  American  statesmen  have  foreseen  the 
ultimate  certainty  of  a  closer  alliance  of  Hawaii,  and  our 
State  Department  has  accordingly,  under  several  adminis- 
trations, definitely  instructed  its  representative  to  favorably 
receive  overtures  looking  toward  annexation.  This  known 
disposition  of  the  United  States  to  seek  closer  commercial 
union  grounded  on  political  considerations  has  had  fruitage 
in  the  Americanizing  of  sentiment  in  Hawaii,  until  now 
that  community  is  the  only  genuinely  American  one  out- 
side our  political  borders.  It  has  a  larger  and  more  intel- 
ligent American  population,  relatively,  than  any  of  our 
territorial  acquisitions  possessed  at  the  time  of  their  an- 
nexation, from  Florida  to  Alaska.  Its  civil  institutions  and 
its  political  privileges,  and  its  social  and  industrial  organiza- 
tion are  more  in  harmony  with  our  government  and  insti- 
tutions than  those  of  any  territorial  acquisition  thus  far 
made  in  our  history.  It  is  essentially  American  territory, 
lacking  only  the  formal  declaration  to  make  it  technically 
what  it  is  in  reality,  Hawaii,  U.  S.  A. 

"The  possession  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  by  the  United 
States  would  make  them  a  means  of  defence  to  our  coast, 
and  would  give  us  a  convenient  naval  and  commercial 
station."— Senator  Dolph. 


HONOLULU, 

HONOLULU,  THE  CAPITAL.  What  Havana  is  to 
Cuba,  Honolulu  is  to  the  rest  of  Hawaii.  Here  are  con- 
centrated the  business  and  political  and  social  forces  that 
control  the  life  and  progress  of  this  nation  in  the  sea. 
That  Honolulu  is  wholly  dependent  on  the  industrial  en- 
terprises throughout  the  country  goes  without  saying.  It 
is  not  a  manufacturing  centre,  for  here  is  nothing  in  the 
raw  and  crude  form  that  can  be  profitably  manufactured. 
There  are  no  metals  or  minerals  or,  as  yet,  fibrous  plants 
or  food  plants  whose  manufacture  is  undertaken  in  this 
unique  city.  Coal  and  iron,  and  hay  and  grain,  and  man- 
ufactured goods  of  all  descriptions  come  from  abroad, 
mainly  from  California.  There  are  iron  foundries  in  Hon- 
olulu, but  they  are  wholly  dependent  on  the  agricultural 
necessities  of  the  country,  and  could  not  keep  running  a 
day  were  it  not  for  the  demand  thus  created  for  their 
products.  The  productive  wealth  of  the  land  is  in  its 
agricultural  operations  exclusively.  It  is  peculiarly  an  agri- 
cultural country,  and  Honolulu  gains  its  importance  solely 
as  a  distributing  centre  or  depot  of  supplies.  Were  there 
not  a  large  agricultural  country  tributary  to  Honolulu,  it 
would  not  even  have  a  name  to  live. 

137 


138  HONOLULU. 

FIRST  GLIMPSE  OF  HONOLULU.  This  peculiar 
dependence  of  Honolulu  on  the  country  is  apparent  to  tne 
stranger  at  first  glance.  Warehouses  and  lumber  yards 
and  commercial  houses  abound,  but  there  is  a  singular 
absence  of  mills  and  factories  and  productive  establish- 
ments. You  will  find  two  foundries  and  a  rice  mill  and 
two  planing  mills,  and  your  list  is  complete.  If  you  walk 
along  the  wharves  you  will  find  bags  of  grain,  and  boxes 
of  shoes,  and  crates  of  crockery,  and  cases  of  dry  goods, 
and  machinery  of  all  descriptions,  and  furniture,  and  bricks, 
and  cement,  things  which  cities  ordinarily  produce  in  their 
marketable  form,  and  in  every  instance  you  will  see  by 
their  marks  that  these  goods  are  from  abroad.  Honolulu 
does  not  produce  any  of  these.  She  simply  handles  them. 
Look  again,  and  the  bags  of  rice,  and  sugar,  and  coffee,  and 
the  bundles  of  hides,  and  bunches  of  bananas,  that  are 
marked  for  export,  and  the  only  articles  of  export  of  any 
considerable  value,  are  none  of  them  products  of  Honolulu 
industry,  but  have  all  come  from  the  strictly  agricultural 
sections.  You  are  impressed  with  Honolulu  as  a  busy 
distributing  centre;  not  as  a  productive  centre,  in  the  sense 
that  it  independently  contributes  products  for  export  or 
products  that  obviate  the  necessity  of  importing  from 
abroad. 

BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW.  This  impression  is  enhanced 
as  one  looks  down  on  the  city  from  the  top  of  Punch 


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HONOLULU.  141 

Bo^\i,  an  extinct  crater  immediately  back  of  the  central 
portion  of  Honolulu.  A  fine  roadway,  winding  about 
the  slopes,  affords  the  finest  view  of  Honolulu  obtain- 
able. When  the  summit  is  reached  a  scene  of  sur- 
passing beauty  and  interest  spreads  out  before  you  on 
every  hand.  Back  of  you  lie  the  hills,  bathing  their  crests 
in  clouds,  three  and  four  thousand  feet  above  sea  level. 
To  the  west  rise  the  wonderful  Waianae  Mountains,  re- 
splendent in  the  glories  of  a  tropic  sunset.  In  the  low- 
lands, between  you  and  those  far-away  hills,  lie  the  rice 
fields  innumerable,  distinct  in  the  distance,  adorned  with 
a  green  unsurpassed  even  by  the  wider  stretches  of  cane 
fields  just  beyond  the  lovely  lochs  of  Pearl  River.  To 
the  east  rises  grim  old  Leahi,  popularly  known  as  Dia- 
mond Head,  the  pride  of  Honolulu,  and  certainly  the 
rarest  bit  of  detached  mountain  scenery  in  the  Islands. 
Other  hills  or  peaks  may  be  wild  and  weird  and  have 
their  peculiar  attraction  for  the  tourist,  but  Leahi  is  like 
the  great  Kamehameha  in  the  lonely  grandeur  and  dignity 
and  at  times  surpassing  beauty  of  its  outlines.  With  your 
back  to  the  mountains,  you  look  out  on  the  broad  Pacific, 
which  seems  smooth  enough  to  justify  its  mild  cognomen, 
but  which  on  occasion  is  turbulent  beyond  description, 
filling  Honolulu  with  the  roar  of  its  breakers,  and  skirting 
the  island  with  a  fringe  of  foam.  Below  you,  so  near  that 
you  can  cast  a  stone  on  to  some  of  their  roofs,  lies  Hono- 


142  HONOLULU. 

lulu,  immersed  in  a  wealth  of  foliage,  so  that  streets  are 
hidden,  and  the  houses  show  only  a  bit  of  color  in  the  en- 
compassing green  of  palms  and  other  exotic  plants.  The 
city  lies  like  a  bird  with  outspread  wings,  its  business 
portion  answering  to  the  body  of  the  bird,  and  the  resi- 
dence portion  stretching  like  wings  around  Punch  Bowl 
towards  the  northeast  up  the  beautiful  and  historic  Nu- 
uanu  Valley,  and  toward  the  southeast  in  the  direction 
of  the  cocoanut-fringed  shores  of  Waikiki.  Within  a 
radius  of  less  than  five  hundred  feet  from  the  corner 
of  King  and  Fort  Streets  are  located  the  firms  through 
whose  books  pass  at  least  nine-tenths  of  the  business 
transactions  of  the  Islands.  This  does  not  mean  that  the 
capital  of  the  country  is  controlled  by  these  firms,  but 
that  it  serves  the  purpose  of  the  country  that  its  business 
should  be  transacted  thus  at  a  common  centre  where,  by 
common  consent,  the  banks  and  importing  houses  are 
located,  where  the  only  improved  harbor  is  situated,  and 
where  the  government  is  administered,  and  the  whole 
round  of  commercial  and  government  transactions  is  con- 
ducted. From  Punch  Bowl  one  gets,  with  the  remark- 
able combination  of  landscape,  a  vivid  conception  of  the 
essentially  clerical  functions  of  Honolulu  as  compared  with 
the  enormously  productive  record  of  the  outlying  country 
on  Oahu  and  the  other  islands.  Honolulu  is  a  necessary 
link  in  the  chain  of  cause  and  effect.    The  country  is 


HONOLULU.  143 

thoroughly  dependent  on  Honolulu  as  its  best  medium 
of  communication  with  the  outside  world,  but  it  is  as  a 
medium  and  not  as  a  producing  community  that  it  main- 
tains its  primacy  in  the  mercantile  and  industrial  opera- 
tions of  the  nation. 

HONOLULU  FROM  THE  SEA.  As  seen  from  the 
top  of  Punch  Bowl,  Honolulu  is  charming  in  its  beauty. 
It  is  hardly  less  so  as  it  appears  from  the  deck  of  an  in- 
coming steamer.  Snuggled  at  the  foot  of  wondrously 
picturesque  hills,  rising  abruptly  into  a  continuous  range 
of  dark  blue  background,  lapped  by  the  waves  of  a  per- 
petual summer  sea,  the  city,  as  seen  from  outside  the  reef, 
is  beautiful  in  itself  and  in  its  setting.  Leahi,  or  Diamond 
Head,  seems  like  some  mighty  sphinx  or  lion  couchant, 
guarding  in  grim  silence  the  leisurely  approach  to  an 
earthly  paradise.  The  balmy  air,  and  the  dark-lying  hills, 
and  the  abundant  vegetation,  and  the  emerald  green  at 
the  harbor  bar,  and  the  softness  and  depth  of  the  blue 
skies,  and  the  generous  sunshine  bathing  all  the  land- 
scape, greet  the  stranger  with  a  tropic  welcome.  He 
knows  he  is  in  the  tropics  at  last,  for  the  palms  wave 
over  him,  and  the  air  is  fragrant  with  magnolia  and  plu- 
meria  and  stephanotis.  And  yet  it  is  impossible  for  him 
to  be  ashore  five  minutes  without  realizing  that,  after 
all,  the  enginery  and  propelling  power  in  this  wonderful 
land  is  not  tropical  but  Anglo-Saxon.    Wherever  there  is 


144  HONOLULU. 

directing  energy,  or  organizing  power,  or  enterprise,  or 
action,  or  application,  there  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  the  moving 
spirit.  He  is  in  the  church,  the  school,  the  counting- 
room  ;  on  the  railroad  and  the  steamer ;  at  the  dry-dock 
and  the  foundry;  in  the  lumberyard,  at  the  mill,  on  the 
tow-boat.  He  is  at  the  wharf  when  you  land,  on 
the  street  as  you  pass,  at  the  hotel  when  you  register. 
Nothing  goes  on  successfully  without  him.  He  fills  your 
teeth,  and  cuts  your  hair,  and  mends  your  shoes,  and 
builds  your  house,  and  shoes  your  horses,  and  mends 
your  coffee-pot,  and  sells  you  furniture  and  medicines, 
and  hardware,  and  fits  your  clothes,  and  takes  your  pic- 
ture, and  you  rub  against  him  everywhere,  at  least  where 
anything  is  going  on.  He  wears  a  summer  suit  twelve 
months  in  a  year,  but  rarely  looks  tropical  in  any  particu- 
lar. There  is  a  seeming  incongruity  between  the  luxuriant 
tropic  growth  of  plants  and  trees,  and  the  presence  of 
people  from  a  northern  clime  who  yield  with  less  grace 
to  the  amenities  of  tropic  costume  than  do  Yankees  in 
Havana. 

GENIUS  OF  THE  FOREIGNER.  Such  is  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  whose  home  is  in  this  land  of  sunshine.  And 
yet,  though  he  retains  to  the  full  his  race  characteristics, 
and  walks  or  sits  beneath  the  palms  and  gorgeous  flow- 
ering trees  as  he  would  beneath  the  elms  and  maples 
of  his  native  land,  seeming  indeed  to  be  a  foreigner  in  the 


HONOLULU.  145 

presence  of  this  unique  vegetation,  he  is  yet  its  author, 
having  made  Honolulu  what  it  is  by  his  enterprise  in  in- 
troducing foreign  plants  and  in  encouraging  their  growth. 
Most  people  do  not  realize  this.  They  do  not  know  that 
when  the  white  man  came,  Honolulu  was  a  treeless, 
sandy  plain,  with  a  fringe  of  cocoanut  trees  along  the 
shore.  Honolulu,  as  it  is  to-day,  is  the  creation  of  the 
foreigner.  It  is  his  handiwork.  Great  trees  that  look  as 
though  they  might  have  had  fifty  years  of  growth  were 
planted  by  people  who  are  barely  middle-aged.  Walk 
into  one  of  the  numerous  yards  where  plants  and  trees 
and  vines  are  growing,  as  though  on  their  native  soil, 
and  you  will  find  that  every  one  of  them  has  been  im- 
ported within  a  comparatively  recent  period.  Almost  every 
quarter  of  the  subtropical  world  has  been  laid  under 
tribute.  Here  is  the  rubber  tree,  the  banyan,  the  baobab, 
the  litchee,  the  avocado,  the  mango,  and  palms  innumer- 
able. Here  are  also  the  brilliant  and  gaudy  bougainvillaea, 
the  prolific  plumeria,  the  night-blooming  cereus,  and  the 
bright  and  attractive  crotons.  We  have  in  this  a  pleasing 
and  truthful  illustration  of  the  beneficent  transformations 
that  the  enterprise  of  foreigners  has  effected  in  Hawaii. 
From  the  days  of  Vancouver,  the  foreign  residents  have 
been  tireless  in  aiding  the  introduction  of  ornamental  and 
useful  plants,  and  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  people 
and  the  country.    The  enterprise  of  foreigners  in  intro- 


146  HONOLULU. 

ducing  new  plants,  has  been  very  effectually  supplemented 
by  some  of  the  wealthier  Hawaiians,  who,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, bear  off  the  palm  for  attractive  and  well-kept 
grounds. 

SIZE  OF  HONOLULU.  The  city  is  long  and  narrow, 
being  about  three  miles  long  on  the  seaside  and  about 
half  a  mile  wide,  and  extending  nearly  two  miles  into 
Nuuanu  Valley,  on  the  land  side,  with  an  average  width  of 
about  half  a  mile.  The  houses  are  rarely  occupied  by  more 
than  a  single  family,  and  in  general  the  yards  about  each 
dwelling  are  ample.  This  affords  an  agreeable  roominess 
which  accounts  for  the  disparity  between  the  apparently 
extensive  area  and  the  comparatively  small  population 
of  the  city,  the  latter  being  barely  twenty-five  thousand. 
The  streets  are  broad  and  ample,  except  in  the  older  and 
business  sections,  where,  of  all  places,  they  should  be 
wide,  but  where,  in  fact,  they  are  lamentably  narrow  and 
unsuited  to  the  city's  needs.  The  private  residences  are 
attractive  and  are  every  year  being  constructed  more  in 
accordance  with  the  privileges  of  the  climate.  The  lanai 
or  veranda  is  the  distinctive  feature  in  Honolulu  house 
construction.  It  is  being  gradually  evolved  into  a  novel 
room  of  three  sides,  broad  and  airy,  and  open  on  one  side, 
with  a  protecting  screen  that  can  be  lowered  as  required. 
An  afternoon  tea  on  a  lanai,  open  towards  one's  garden,  or 
perchance  towards  the  sea,  with  orchids  and  choice  ferns 


HONOLULU.  147 

for  decorations,  and  a  delicious  breeze  for  inspiration,  is 
one  of  the  treats  of  tropical  life. 

PUBLIC  BUILDINGS.  All  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment, excepting  that  of  the  most  purely  local  nature,  is 
located  at  Honolulu.  There  is  no  municipal  government. 
All  authority  and  legislation  and  responsible  administration 
centres  at  the  capital.  The  public  buildings  used  for 
government  purposes  are  chiefly  the  Executive  building, 
formerly  the  Palace ;  the  Judiciary  building,  formerly  the 
Government  building,  and  the  Station-house.  These 
buildings  are  all  constructed  of  cement  concrete,  and  are 
all  creditable  buildings,  the  two  former  being  handsome 
structures,  with  ample  and  ornamental  grounds.  The 
Oahu  prison  belongs  to  the  old  order,  being  built,  as  was 
customary  in  early  days,  of  slabs  of  coral  concrete,  cut 
for  the  building  from  the  reef.  Many  of  the  buildings  in 
the  business  section  are  built  of  brick,  as  is  also  the  Hon- 
olulu Library  building,  and  that  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  as  well 
as  the  large  native  church  called  Kaumakapili.  The  Ma- 
sonic Hall,  the  Safety  Deposit  building,  the  handsome 
Central  Union  Church,  are  all  built  of  the  Kamehameha 
stone,  a  hard  basaltic  lava  quarried  on  the  grounds  of  the 
Kamehameha  School,  in  the  construction  of  whose  build- 
ings it  was  first  brought  into  use. 

PUBLIC  WORKS.  Honolulu  has  been  dependent 
until  the  past  year  on  a  system  of  storing  surface  water 


148  HONOLULU. 

for  its  water  supply.  Large  reservoirs  have  been  con- 
structed in  the  Upper  Nuuanu  Valley,  and  these  have 
proved  adequate  in  the  supply  of  water  for  fire  purposes 
as  well  as  for  drinking  and  irrigation  of  lawns,  until  within 
recent  years.  The  success  at  Ewa  plantation  in  employ- 
ing enormous  pumps  in  sending  artesian  water  into  the 
cane  fields,  has  led  the  government  to  install  a  large 
pump  and  to  utilize  artesian  water  for  the  city  supply,  and 
with  admirable  results.  The  city  is  lighted  by  electric 
arc-lights,  the  electricity  being  generated  by  dynamos  run 
by  turning  water  from  the  Nuuanu  reservoirs  into  the 
mains  at  night.  A  private  corporation  furnishes  incan- 
descent lighting  for  stores  and  residences,  and  two  tele- 
phone companies  number  between  them  over  i^oo  sub- 
scribers in  a  total  population  of  2^,000.  Probably  no 
other  place  in  the  world  enjoys  such  telephone  facilities 
in  proportion  to  its  population.  Marketing,  committee- 
work,  gossiping,  prescribing  for  patients,  and  all  manner 
of  routine  belonging  to  household  and  social  needs,  is 
done  by  means  of  the  convenient  telephone.  This,  of 
course,  has  its  drawbacks.  One  does  not  like  to  break 
away  from  the  company  of  friends  at  the  dinner  table, 
especially  if  you  happen  to  be  the  host,  to  answer  through 
the  telephone  another  friend's  question,  "What  is  Miss 
Smith's  address  in  the  States?"  Nor  is  it  conducive  to 
the  fullest  enjoyment  of  that  first  sound  sleep  before 


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HONOLULU.  151 

midnight  to  hear  the  bell  buzz  in  the  next  room  only  to 
remind  you  that  the  "Australia  "  is  "  off  Waimanalo  and 
will  be  in  in  the  morning."  Sometimes  one  gets  a  smile 
even  out  of  a  telephone.  Once,  when  a  sharp  whistling 
of  some  steamer  was  heard  in  the  harbor,  instead  of 
bothering  "Central "  I  pulled  down  the  lever  and  listened. 
"Central!"  "Yes."  "What's  that  whistling?"  "Tow- 
boat."  "What's  she  whistling  for?"  "'Cause  she's  a 
tow-boat?"  Involuntarily  I  snickered  in  the  transmitter, 
and  got  a  sharp,  snappy  order,  "  Put  up  that  lever."  But 
it  did  not  go  up  till  I  shouted,  "Good  for  you,  central, 
I'll  call  again."      - 

POPULATION  OF  HONOLULU.  Outside  of  Hono- 
lulu there  is  comparatively  slight  concentration  of  popula- 
tion at  particular  points.  Over  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  total  population,  however,  is  in  the  city  of  Honolulu, 
or  according  to  the  census  of  1890,  22,907  out  of  a  total 
of  89,990.  Of  this  number,  11,16^  are  natives  and  half- 
castes,  or  about  48  per  cent. ;  4,79^  are  Asiatics  and  the 
remaining  6,947  ^^^  Europeans  or  Americans.  The  for- 
eign population  has  grown  in  numbers  since  the  last 
census  was  taken,  and  the  census  of  1896  will  show  a 
marked  modification  of  these  figures  of  1890.  It  has 
been  ascertained  that  the  residences  have  an  average  of 
5.05  persons,  while  counting  boarding  schools,  hotels, 
prisons,  etc.,  there  is  an  average  of  ^.73  persons  to  each 


152  HONOLULU. 

inhabited  building,  showing  plainly  that  in  Honolulu,  at 
least,  if  nowhere  else  in  the  world,  there  is  no  over- 
crowding of  the  population. 

PORTUGUESE  COLONY.  The  slopes  of  Punch  Bowl 
are  being  dotted  with  snug  cottages  built  by  the  thrifty 
Portuguese.  Every  foot  of  land  about  them  is  carefully 
cultivated,  and  here  are  fig-trees,  and  small  vineyards,  and 
bright  garden  spots  that  tell  the  story  of  New  Hawaii.  In 
upper  Nuuanu  Valley,  land  that  a  few  years  ago  was 
fallow,  under  the  vigorous  administration  of  Hon.  L.  A. 
Thurston,  then  Minister  of  Interior,  and  now  Hawaiian 
Minister  at  Washington,  was  divided  up  into  homesteads, 
and  now  is  owned  by  enterprising  Portuguese,  who  are 
gradually  changing  the  face  of  the  country.  Their  cosy 
homes  and  cultivated  acres  are  a  prophecy  of  what  an 
industrious  agricultural  people  are  bound  to  accomplish 
within  a  few  years.  A  horseback  ride  up  the  well-watered 
and  sheltered  Kalihi  Valley  will  convince  the  most  scepti- 
cal of  the  wonderful  transformation  the  whole  country  is 
to  undergo  under  the  magic  touch  of  the  genuine  farmer 
from  abroad.  Here  are  untold  acres  of  taro  under  Chinese 
cultivation,  and  great  orchards  of  bananas  under  Portu- 
guese cultivation.  These  bananas  are  exported  to  San 
Francisco,  and  banana  farming  is  a  profitable  industry. 

PLEASURE  RESORTS.  The  ubiquitous  hack-man 
will  show  you  a  good  deal  of  Honolulu  in  an  afternoon 


HONOLULU.  153 

and  keep  you  agog  with  his  yarns  and  confidential  infor- 
mation. He  will  take  you  to  Waikiki  for  a  bath  in  the 
surf,  or  to  the  famous  Pali,  where  the  view  of  ocean  and 
of  verdant  plains  below  you,  dotted  with  cane  and  rice 
fields,  is  an  enchanting  one.  He  will  drive  you  into  the 
Kamehameha  School  grounds,  and  graciously  wait,  at  his 
regular  price  per  hour,  while  you  visit  the  Museum,  or  stroll 
through  the  workshops,  or  peek  at  the  elegant  academic 
building  known  as  Bishop  Hall.  The  Museum  was  erected 
by  Hon.  C.  R.  Bishop  as  a  memorial  of  his  wife.  Princess 
Pauahi,  who  endowed  these  schools.  A  forenoon  in  this 
building,  taken  in  conjunction  with  a  visit  to  the  class- 
rooms and  workshops  of  this  excellent  institution,  will  fur- 
nish the  stranger,  within  the  smallest  compass,  a  glimpse 
into  the  past  of  the  Hawaiian  race  and  a  forecast  of  its 
future  so  far  as  human  agencies  and  a  wise  training  can 
provide  for  and  secure  that  future. 

At  the  other  end  of  town  your  driver  will  take  you 
into  the  grounds  of  Oahu  College,  an  historic  institution, 
from  which  have  gone  forth  the  men  who  now  control 
the  affairs  of  Hawaii.  This  is  a  school  for  foreign  chil- 
dren, and  maintains  a  record  of  excellence,  young  men 
from  it  entering  the  best  of  American  colleges  with  honor- 
able distinction. 

After  all,  however,  the  stranger  can  see  to  better 
advantage  what  is  to  be  seen  and  enjoyed  through  the 


154  HONOLULU. 

hospitality  of  Honolulu  people  who  are  famous  for  their 
friendliness  towards  visitors  to  the  Islands.  One  does  not 
expect  to  see  here  what  is  to  be  met  with  in  larger  and 
older  countries.  Much  of  the  attractiveness  of  Honolulu 
consists  in  just  being  there,  realizing  with  every  breath 
that  it  is  a  land  of  bloom,  and  that  no  weather  indications, 
much  less  any  weather  itself,  can  possiWy  invade  your 
delightsome  retreat.  You  do  not  need  quite  to  voice  the 
sentiment : — 

"A  horse  !  a  horse !   my  kingdom  for  a  horse ! " 

for  you  can  avail  yourself  of  the  street  cars, — beg  par- 
don !  I  should  say  "  the  tram-way,"  for  in  all  this  Ameri- 
canized city  there  is  but  one  thing  that  is  English  to  the 
very  core,  and  that  is  the  street  railway  system.  No  one 
should  forego  the  novel  experience  of  a  ride  in  a  Hon- 
olulu "tram."  The  cars  are  made  in  the  United  States, 
good,  honest  American  cars,  but  the  English  manager 
changes  their  name  at  the  Custom-house  after  paying 
duties  and,  thereafter,  they  are  "trams"  to  the  close  of 
their  checkered  career. 

With  a  good  horse,  however,  one  can  go  and  come  as 
he  pleases,  without  being  obliged  to  hold  a  wilted  ticket 
until  he  reaches  his  destination;  and  he  can  get  at  the 
things  that  are  really  worth  seeing,  as  a  run  into  the 
country  where  comical  Chinamen  are  at  work  in  the  rice 
fields,  or  into  the  valleys  where  innumerable  tare  patches 


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HONOLULU.  157 

are  being  worked,  or  up  on  the  hills  where  land  and  sea 
alike  are  spread  to  view.  To  see  the  people  as  they  live 
and  work  is  after  all  the  most  fascinating  attraction  to  the 
stranger,  and  in  the  company  of  a  resident,  one  will  find 
his  days  full  of  profitable  sight-seeing  at  very  little,  if  any, 
personal  inconvenience. 

CHARITABLE  INSTITUTIONS.  Three  royal  person- 
ages have  left  memorials  to  their  generosity  and  humani- 
tarian instincts  that  will  always  merit  honorable  mention. 
The  rare  foresight  and  commendable  wisdom  of  Princess 
Pauahi  in  providing  for  the  industrial  training  of  Hawaiian 
youth  has  already  been  referred  to.  Lunalilo,  with  affec- 
tionate regard  for  his  people,  provided  a  home  for  indigent 
Hawaiians,  and  a  beautiful  building  that  bears  his  name 
is  one  of  the  most  attractive  spots  in  Honolulu.  The 
grounds  were  tastefully  laid  out,  largely  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Hon.  S.  B.  Dole,  President  of  the  Provisional 
Government,  and  are  an  honor  to  his  judgment  and  good 
taste.  Queen  Emma  Hospital  was  established  and  en- 
dowed by  Queen  Emma,  the  widow  of  Kamehameha  IV. 
It  is  open  to  all  nationalities,  Hawaiians  having  treatment 
free,  and  is  located  centrally,  its  fine  grounds  affording 
delight  and  health  of  spirit  to  thousands  who  never  need 
other  treatment  than  the  shade  of  its  remarkable  grove  of 
royal  and  date  palms.  The  Sailor's  Home  is  now  in 
process  of  construction  and  is  a  credit  to  the  munificence 


1 58  HONOLULU. 

of  Honolulu  citizens,  who  thus  provide  a  substantial 
and  commodious  building  for  Jack's  wholesome  enter- 
tainment while  on  shore.  Other  minor  institutions  and 
organizations  provide  suitably  and  effectively  for  all  those 
charitable  demands  made  on  the  benevolent  by  the  exi- 
gencies of  city  life.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  it  is  entirely 
true  to  say  that  there  is  no  want  in  Honolulu  life  that  is 
not  fittingly  supplied,  and  the  record  will  compare  favor- 
ably with  that  of  any  continental  city  in  any  land. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE.  The  organization 
of  the  judiciary  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  United  States. 
Thus  there  are  district  courts  at  convenient  locations 
throughout  the  group,  circuit  courts  for  each  of  the  larger 
islands,  and  a  supreme  court,  with  final  powers  as  a  court 
of  last  resort.  The  police  system  is  well  organized  and 
reasonably  efficient  considering  the  sparsely  settled  condi- 
tion of  many  districts,  and  the  difficulties  attending  detec- 
tion among  the  roving  classes  who  furnish  the  largest 
quota  of  criminals,  viz.,  the  Chinese  plantation  laborers, 
who  are  always  on  the  road  in  considerable  numbers 
shifting  from  one  plantation  to  another.  Opium  smuggling 
is  carried  on  by  the  wholesale,  and  the  police  force  has  not 
proved  itself  efficient  in  detecting  it  or  in  thwarting  it. 
Officials  are  easily  corrupted  by  the  bribes  that  in  continu- 
ousness  and  regularity  of  payment  come  to  wear  all  the 
semblance  of  an  additional  salary.    What  is  needed  is  a 


HONOLULU.  159 

patrol  steamer  to  guard  the  coast,  and  to  seize  vessels  of 
suspicious  character.  Such  vessels  have  been  repeatedly 
seen  and  reported,  and  a  few  weeks  afterwards  opium  has 
been  sold  on  the  sly  at  a  figure  low  enough  to  show  that 
there  was  plenty  of  the  drug  at  hand. 

Two  peculiarities  of  the  jury  system  are  worthy  of 
note,  viz.,  the  majority  verdict,  and  the  mixed  jury.  The 
latter  is  for  cases  between  natives  and  foreigners,  in  which 
the  jury  is  composed  one-half  of  natives,  and  one-half  of 
foreigners.  Natives  are  tried  before  native  juries,  and 
foreigners  before  foreign  juries.  This  arrangement,  while 
evincing  an  element  of  fairness,  operates  to  keep  alive  race 
sensitiveness  and  should  be  done  away  with.  This  had 
noteworthy  illustration  in  the  trial  of  two  men  connected 
with  the  insurrection  of  1889.  The  white  man,  who  was 
a  subordinate,  and  not  a  combatant  in  the  conflict,  was 
found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  prison.  The  native  leader, 
though  guilty  by  his  own  statements,  was  released  by  the 
court  because  the  native  jury  declared  him  not  guilty. 

The  majority  verdict  is  considered  an  aid  to  justice.  A 
verdict  of  nine  or  more  constitutes  a  true  verdict.  The 
corruption  of  a  single  juror  is  thus  prevented  from  thwart- 
ing the  ends  of  justice.  A  laughable  incident  occurred  in 
the  case  of  a  native  jury  in  Kau,  on  one  occasion,  who,  on 
polling  their  decision,  found  that  it  was  a  unanimous  one 
for  conviction.     Having  been  instructed  that  a  vote  of 


i6o  HONOLULU. 

nine  to  three  would  be  sufficient  for  conviction  or  acquit- 
tal, they  decided  that  three  of  the  jury  must  change  their 
decision,  and  vote  for  acquittal,  and  thus  the  verdict  de- 
clared by  the  foreman  when  the  jury  came  into  court  a 
little  later,  was  nine  to  three  for  conviction. 

EDUCATION.  The  public  schools  are  under  the 
direction  of  a  Board  of  Education,  and  are  creditable  both 
as  to  attendance  of  pupils  and  the  character  of  the  build- 
ings. The  latter  have  been  much  improved  during  recent 
years,  and  the  instruction  has  been  changed  from  the  Ha- 
waiian language  to  the  English  in  all  but  a  few  out-of- 
the-way  schools.  The  attendance  in  both  public  and 
private  schools,  in  1890,  was  10,006.  Of  this  number  7172 
were  natives  and  half-castes  and  2491  Europeans  and 
Americans.  This  is  a  large  attendance  in  a  total  popula- 
tion of  12,099,  under  fifteen  years  of  age.  Especially  is 
this  so  when  it  is  known  that  there  is  strong  pressure 
among  some  nationalities  to  encourage  child-labor  and 
thus  increase  the  earnings  of  the  family. 

TAXATION.  The  rate  of  taxation,  one  per  cent.,  is 
low  and  the  burden  of  taxation  is  light.  It  is  unevenly 
distributed,  however,  personal  taxes  being  comparatively 
high,  while  the  sugar  industry  does  not  share  its  part  of 
the  burden.  The  system  of  taxation  is  capable  of  im- 
provement in  the  interest  of  the  poorer  classes.  There  is 
now  an   exemption  from  taxation  of  property  of  $300 


RESIDENCE  OF  C.  K.  BISHOP.  The  residence  of  the  wealthy  hanker,  the  Hon. 
Charles  R.  Bishop,  is  the  most  costly  in  the  city  of  Honolulu.  The  house  was  built 
by  the  Princess  Ruth,  sister  of  Kamehameha  V.,  but  a  short  time  before  her  death. 
Her  estate  was  bequeathed  to  her  niece,  Mrs.  C.  R.  Bishop.  The  interior  is  beautiful!  7 
decorated  with  many  of  the  most  rare  varieties  of  the  native  woods. 


HONOLULU.  1 6 


o 


valuation  and  less,  but  in  many  instances  a  given  indi- 
vidual's personal  taxes  are  larger  than  his  property  tax. 
Again,  the  holding  of  land  in  large  estates  deprives  the 
government  of  a  considerable  revenue  that  would  come 
from  property  taxes  were  these  large  estates  divided  and 
improved.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  revenues  could 
be  thus  increased  ^o  per  cent.  Again,  the  cost  of  collec- 
tion is  larger  than  it  should  be,  even  taking  into  consider- 
ation all  the  attendant  difficulties.  These  are  matters, 
however,  that  are  receiving  thoughtful  consideration,  and 
Hawaii  is  not  in  these  particulars  unlike  larger  communi- 
ties elsewhere  where  the  problems  of  taxation  are  by  no 
means  settled.  Indeed,  Hawaii  has  made  commendable 
progress,  her  present  system  securing  an  efficient  and  in- 
telligent administration  of  this  department  of  the  govern- 
ment, quite  in  contrast  with  the  early  days  when  women 
and  children  were  subject  to  the  poll  tax  at  half  rates 
(without  the  privilege  of  voting,  of  course)  and  when  the 
rate  fixed  on  a  large  farm  was  a  one-fathom  hog,  and  on 
a  small  one  a  pig. 

HARBOR  OF  HONOLULU.  There  are  other  good 
harbors  in  the  group,  but  Honolulu  harbor  is  the  only 
one  on  which  much  money  has  been  spent.  It  has  been 
dredged  to  a  depth  of  forty  feet  and  the  channel  through 
the  reef  to  a  depth  of  thirty  feet,  and  the  largest  vessels 
afloat  in  the  Pacific  can  now  be  docked.    An  excellent 


1 64  HONOLULU. 

marine  railway  is  kept  busily  employed,  large  ships  being 
run  up  for  much  needed  repairs,  among  them  at  one  time 
being  some  of  the  United  States  wooden  gunboats.  The 
harbor  during  the  sugar  season,  from  March  to  July,  is  a 
busy  scene.  Inter-island  steamers  and  sailing  vessels 
bring  in  at  that  time  thousands  of  bags  of  sugar  each 
day,  and  these  are  in  turn  placed  on  board  vessels  bound  to 
San  Francisco.  The  steamship  Eton,  in  1891,  took  away 
4292}^  tons,  being  the  largest  sugar  cargo  that  ever  left 
the  port  of  Honolulu.  The  importance  of  this  carrying 
trade  can  be  understood  in  part  by  the  amount  of  sugar 
alone  exported  in  1891,  amounting  to  262,910,279  pounds. 
It  can  be  better  understood  by  the  figures  given  in  the 
report  of  the  San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce  for 
the  year  1891,  which  show  that  the  trade  of  that  port 
alone  with  the  Islands,  mainly  with  Honolulu,  reached  the 
remarkable  total  of  ^17,373,918.  Under  a  progressive  and 
stable  administration  of  public  affairs,  Honolulu  harbor 
will  acquire  even  larger  facilities  for  handling  the  trade 
and  providing  for  the  commerce  that  is  certain  to  seek 
its  shores. 

Honolulu  is  an  American  roadstead,  in  that  nine-tenths 
of  the  vessels  entering  the  port  and  doing  the  carrying 
trade  of  the  Islands  float  the  American  flag.  Nowhere 
else  do  the  ships  of  our  White  Squadron  seem  more  at 
home,  or  fall  more  naturally  into  the  scene  as  part  of 


HONOLULU.  165 

nature's  contribution  than  in  the  quiet  haven  of  Honolulu. 
The  strains  of  the  flag-ship  band  swelling  out  through 
the  cocoanut  groves  in  the  summer  evening  air  make  the 
resident  American  almost  realize  that  he  is  in  his  own  land 
till,  sharp  and  clear  in  the  night  air,  there  comes  the  dismal 
wail  from  the  stricken  household  of  one  more  Kanaka 
gone  to  his  long  home. 

STREET  SCENES.  There  are  times  when  Honolulu 
seems  to  fairly  blossom  out  in  picturesque  costumes.  The 
gay  colors  worn  by  the  native  horsewomen  on  holiday 
occasions  have  already  been  spoken  of.  On  Chinese 
New  Year's,  the  celestials  of  the  better  class  wear  as  many 
colors  as  adorn  a  haberdasher's  show-window.  Think  of 
a  man  with  pea-green  cloth  shoes,  yellow  or  blue  bags  for 
trousers,  a  lavender  garment,  a  sort  of  cross  between  a 
coat  and  a  shirt,  with  wide-spreading  sleeves  three-quar- 
ters of  a  yard  across  at  the  wrists,  a  jaunty  brown  cap 
with  long  red  tassels,  and  a  dainty  fan,  walking  leisurely 
through  the  streets,  bowing  to  scores  of  others  dressed  in 
as  many  combinations  of  color  as  himself.  The  Japanese 
are  quite  unlike  the  Chinese  in  that  they  clothe  their 
dumpy  little  bodies  almost  uniformly  in  European  costume. 
This  is  not  the  case  when  they  first  arrive  in  the  country, 
for  they  then  exhibit  the  oddest  combinations  of  dress 
known  to  man.  The  Japanese  women  wear  lengths  of 
cloth  swaddled  about  their  forms  regardless  of  the  usual 


1 66  HONOLULU. 

conventionalities  of  .street  costume.  The  Chinaman  be- 
lieves in  flowing  and  liberal  trousers,  but  the  Japanese 
patronizes  pantaloons  of  the  close-reefed  variety,  and  the 
general  appearance  of  his  nether  extremities  is  remarkably 
suggestive  of  Palmer  Coxe's  Brownies.  For  a  crude,  out- 
landish lot  of  mortals,  commend  me  to  a  motley  group  of 
Asiatics  just  released  from  quarantine,  and  riding  into  town 
with  their  mats,  and  queer  baskets,  and  all  the  other  para- 
phernalia of  coolie  comfort.  Hawaii  is  a  Paradise  indeed 
for  these  subjects  of  the  Flowery  Kingdom,  for  here  they 
have  comforts  and  freedom  and  an  outlook  in  life  that 
never  dawns  on  the  sodden  mass  of  humanity  from 
which  they  come. 

One  custom  that  is  novel  is  the  love  of  the  Hawaiian 
for  adornment.  Above  all  things,  a  lei  or  wreath  is  valued 
as  a  thing  of  beauty  and  a  joy  forever.  Rarely  will  you 
find  a  young  Hawaiian,  whether  man  or  woman,  who 
does  not  have  a  hat  adorned  with  a  lei  of  bright  scarlet  or 
yellow  or  white  flowers,  or  one  made  with  the  ends  of 
peacock  feathers,  or  of  dainty  sea-shells  deftly  strung 
together,  or  of  fragrant  seeds. 

Whatever  you  buy,  whether  fruit,  or  a  cane  of  native 
woods,  or  a  set  of  exquisite  tree-shells,  the  jewels  of 
Hawaiian  woodlands,  you  can  pay  for  it  in  American 
money,  gold  or  silver  or  paper.  The  islands  have  silver 
money  of  their  own,  coined  at  the  San  Francisco  mint, 


HONOLULU.  167 

and  of  the  same  intrinsic  value  as  United  States  silver  coin, 
and  at  first  glance  it  closely  resembles  such  coin,  so  that 
one  hardly  realizes  in  using  it  that  he  is  not  handling 
American  money. 

At  night,  the  customary  band  concert  calls  together  a 
crowd  of  all  ages  and  nationalities.  The  unique  feature  is 
the  singing  by  Hawaiian  male  voices.  The  native  is  a 
natural  lover  of  music,  and  perhaps  nothing  is  more  at- 
tractive to  foreigners  than  the  plaintive  songs  that  inevita- 
bly suggest  the  mournful  phase  of  Hawaiian  life,  while 
they  fascinate  with  their  melody.  One  thinks  more  than 
once,  on  such  occasions,  of  the  ancient  fable  of  the 
melody  of  the  dying  swan. 

THE  GARDEN  ISLE.  Kauai  has  well  been  called 
"The  Garden  Island."  This  is  due  to  its  land  structure, 
contributing  as  it  does  to  its  delightful  climate  and  its  ad- 
vantages for  cultivation.  Thus,  the  island  is  nearly  circular, 
with  its  highlands,  reaching  an  elevation  at  points  of 
^000  feet,  in  the  centre,  and  its  arable  lands  near  the  sea. 
The  highlands  are  well  wooded,  and  Kauai  is  perhaps  the 
best  watered  island  in  the  group,  numerous  streams  com- 
ing down  from  the  interior  to  the  lower  lands  below. 
Although  Kauai  contains  only  390  square  miles,  or  less 
than  one-fifteenth  of  the  area  of  the  four  most  productive 
islands,  viz.,  Hawaii,  Maui,  Oahu  and  Kauai,  it  furnishes 
one-sixth  of  the  total  acreage  of  cane  grown  on  these 


1 68  HONOLULU. 

four  islands,  being  nearly  as  much  as  the  cane  acreage 
of  Maui,  and  three  times  that  of  Oahu,  each  of  which 
islands  is  twice  the  size  of  Kauai.  Moreover,  Kauai  fur- 
nishes one-third  of  the  total  acreage  under  rice  cultiva- 
tion on  these  four  islands,  producing  a  crop  five  times 
as  large  as  that  of  the  islands  of  Maui  and  Hawaii  com- 
bined. 

THE  LEPER  COLONY.  Across  the  channel  from 
Oahu  toward  the  southeast,  a  distance  of  twenty-three 
miles,  is  Molokai,  the  island  most  widely  known  as  the 
place  where  the  lepers  are  segregated.  Kalawao  is  a 
valley  walled  in  by  high  precipices,  open  seawards,  but 
accessible  to  the  landward  side  only  by  a  difficult  trail 
down  the  bluff.  It  is  in  this  valley  that  the  leper  colony 
is  located.  For  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  a  policy  of 
segregation,  more  or  less  strictly  enforced,  according  to 
circumstances,  has  built  up  in  this  valley  a  colony  that 
reflects  credit  on  the  wisdom,  generosity  and  humanita- 
rian instincts  of  the  Hawaiian  nation.  Here  are  all  the 
worst  cases,  in  fact  all  in  the  land  who  are  known  to 
have  the  disease  in  such  form  as  to  endanger  others. 
Government  physicians,  over  twenty  in  number,  widely 
scattered  throughout  the  group,  as  one  of  their  duties, 
examine  suspects,  keeping  doubtful  cases  under  monthly 
surveillance,  and  sending  pronounced  cases  to  the  receiving 
station  at  Honolulu,  where  a  similar  sifting  process  goes 


///^^   J (11  oiro 


io^ 


HONOLULU.  169 

on,  the  doubtful  cases,  or  those  not  pronounced,  being 
detained  at  the  station  for  treatment,  and  the  decided 
cases,  after  an  examination  by  a  board  of  five  physicians, 
being  sent  to  the  Kalawao  colony. 

LIBERAL  TREATMENT  OF  LEPERS.  This 
settlement  is  sustained  by  a  government  appropriation  of 
^117,000  per  annum,  food,  clothing,  lodging,  and  medical 
attendance  being  furnished  at  government  expense.  There 
were  1 1 1  ^  lepers  in  the  colony  in  1892,  with  an  average  of 
about  three  persons  to  a  house.  In  all  there  are  430 
buildings  owned  by  the  Board  of  Health,  or  in  some 
cases  by  lepers  themselves,  and  by  benevolent  organiza- 
tions. There  are  six  churches,  three  houses  belonging 
to  the  Catholic  mission,  a  Boy's  Home,  the  Bishop  Home 
for  unprotected  women  and  girls,  a  store  and  houses  for 
the  superintendent  and  physician.  The  physician  in 
charge  in  1892,  in  his  report,  stated  that  he  could  "at 
any  time  get  twenty  or  twenty-five  kokuas  (men  not 
leprous,  living  at  the  settlement)  to  submit  to  inoculation 
with  the  view  of  contracting  the  disease,  to  the  end  that 
they  might  be  endowed  with  the  privileges  and  supplied 
with  the  rations  of  the  regular  leper."  Be  this  as  it  may, 
it  is  indisputable  that  the  patients,  or  rather  inhabitants  of 
this  colony,  are  contented  with  their  surroundings,  being, 
many  of  them,  better  off  in  this  world's  goods  than  before 
they  went  there.    The  death-rate  is  comparatively  low. 


I70  HONOLULU. 

being,  in  1892,  24.^8  per  cent.  Formerly  the  disease  made 
more  rapid  strides  among  those  afflicted  with  it  than  is 
the  case  at  present. 

The  disease  is  believed  to  be  under  control  elsewhere, 
the  large  island  of  Hawaii,  in  1892,  being  reported  free 
of  lepers.  The  systematic  segregation  of  recent  years  has 
brought  this  about.  There  are  many  people,  however, 
who  are  connected  by  blood  relationship  with  lepers,  liv- 
ing or  dead,  who  through  heredity  or  contagion  may  have 
the  seeds  of  the  disease  in  their  system,  and,  therefore, 
medical  supervision  of  all  suspects  must  continue  as  in 
the  past. 

THE  VALLEY  OF  DEATH.  Much  has  been  written 
about  Kalawao  that  has  ignored  the  noble  spirit  shown  by 
this  little  nation  in  its  care  of  these  unfortunates.  Hawaii 
never  has  needed  to  import  from  abroad  suitable  sympathy 
and  a  kindly  regard  for  the  comfort  of  its  lepers.  Prob- 
ably no  nation  has  ever  boine  a  heavier  burden  or  done  it 
so  sympathetically  and  generously.  Its  policy  of  segrega- 
tion has  not  been  a  policy  of  ostracism,  but  a  wise  seclu- 
sion of  its  afflicted  people  for  their  own  benefit  and 
comfort,  and  for  the  safety  of  the  rest.  Honolulu  people 
honor  themselves  by  their  frequent  contributions  to  the 
comfort  of  these  Kalawao  unfortunates,  in  addition  to  the 
generous  provision  made  by  the  Board  of  Health. 

The  sun  rises  and  sets  on  Kalawao,  and  the  wholesome 


RESIDENCE  OF  MR.  WATERHOUSE.  The  grounds  surrounding  this  residence 
are  among  the  most  beautiful  in  the  city.  Every  odd  variety  of  plant  life  that  can 
be  grown  in  the  tropics  is  found  here.  A  large  artificial  pond  is  covered  with  hundreds 
of  pink  lotus  blossoms,  mingled  with  the  white  and  blue  lillies  so  well  known  in 
northern  climes. 


HONOLULU. 


/  J 


breath  of  the  ocean  air  floods  that  broad  valley,  and  the 
earth  all  about  responds  with  verdure,  and  the  great  hills 
rise  grim  and  dark  above,  but  an  awful  scourge  is  on  the 
people,  and  it  is  the  valley  of  death.  "  Morituri  salutamus" 
might  well  be  the  handwriting  along  those  giant  cliffs. 
As  we  sail  away  with  eye  moistened  and  heart  heavy, 
we  catch  the  strains  of  a  band  whose  musicians  are  all 
lepers.  Why  should  not  they  have  their  pleasant  pas- 
times as  well  as  we?    We  are  all  dying  1 

OFF  TO  WINDWARD.  To  know  these  strange  and 
beautiful  islands  one  must  take  the  trip  to  windward,  and 
see  at  least  the  two  largest  islands,  Maui  and  Hawaii.  Land- 
ing from  the  steamer  at  Maalaea  Bay,  Maui,  one  can  take  the 
stage  to  Wailuku,  the  trains  to  Kahului,  and  the  saddle  to 
Makawao,  reaching  thus  a  point  from  which  can  be  seen 
the  largest  area  of  tillable  land  in  the  group.  Here  are 
tens  of  thousands  of  acres  of  cane-land,  sweeping  from 
your  feet  down  the  long  slope,  out  across  the  great  plains, 
and  banking  the  hills  beyond  with  green.  Behind  you  is 
the  mighty  but  silent  Haleakala,  the  House  of  the  Sun, 
rising  steadily  up  into  the  clouds  to  an  elevation  of  10,000 
feet,  while  across  the  isthmus  rise  the  mystic,  gruesome 
hills  of  West  Maui,  a  massive  phalanx  of  peaks,  ^000  and 
6000  feet  above  sea-level.  From  this  island,  in  the  stir- 
ring days  of  the  gold  excitement  in  California,  in  1849, 
potatoes  and  flour  were  exported,  commanding  fancy 


i;4  HONOLULU. 

prices  in  the  San  Francisco  market.  All  things  considered, 
the  famous  lao  Valley,  back  of  Wailuku,  probably  pre- 
sents the  finest  bit  of  scenery,  united  with  startling 
effects,  to  be  seen  anywhere  on  the  islands.  Enthusiasts 
do  not  hesitate  to  compare  it  favorably  with  the  far-famed 
Yosemite.  Where  these  waving  fields  of  cane  now 
stretch,  the  finest  bit  of  Hawaiian  valor  was  shown  in  the 
fatal  "  charge  of  the  Alapa,"  one  hundred  years  ago.  The 
bloodiest  conflict  in  Hawaiian  annals  was  fought  in  the 
presence  of  the  surpassing  beauties  of  this  valley  of  lao. 
LAHAINA  AND  THE  WHALE  TRADE.  Once  the 
centre  of  a  busy  trade  and  the  favorite  resort  of  Hawaiian 
kings,  Lahaina  is  now  little  more  than  a  hamlet,  with 
dumb  signs  only,  in  buildings  going  to  decay,  of  its  former 
busy  scenes.  At  this  now  sleepy  port,  at  a  single  time, 
there  rode  at  anchor,  along  in  the  fifties,  as  many  as  sixty 
or  more  whalers,  bringing  hither  their  oil  for  reshipment, 
and  fitting  out  with  new  supplies  for  another  cruise.  The 
whaling  trade  was  the  principal  source  of  income  to  the 
Islands  up  to  the  time  of  the  civil  war  in  the  United  States. 
Confederate  privateers  made  such  havoc  among  the 
vessels  employed  in  this  industry,  as  to  greatly  restrict  it. 
This  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  Islands,  so  largely  depend- 
ent on  this  trade.  Thus  in  18^9,  there  were  ^49  whalers 
entered  at  Hawaiian  ports,  which  number  was  reduced  to 
102  in  1869,  ten  years  later.     Lahaina  suffered  more  than 


HONOLULU.  175 

?ny  other  port  as  the  result  of  this  lost  trade.  We  can 
imagine  much  from  the  presence  of  those  whale-ships  at 
Lahaina  that  needs  not  to  be  written.  There  are  chapters, 
dark  and  shameful,  of  the  conduct  of  other  seamen  at  this 
historic  spot,  that  have  gone  down  in  history.  We  would 
not  bring  them  back,  those  days  of  lustful  cruelty.  The 
record  has  been  made  and  is  before  the  great  Judge.  One 
must  think  of  these  things  though,  as  he  walks  through 
indolent,  drowsy  Lahaina,  whose  trade  has  gone  and  her 
people  too.  We  recall  the  lines  of  Charles  Warren  Stod- 
dard as  we  turn  our  faces  seaward  again,  leaving  far 
Dehind  the  foaming  reef,  and  cocoanut  groves  of  Lahaina, 
and  the  mountain  masses  of  Maui, 

''  Where  the  peaks  shoulder 
The  clouds  like  a  yoke ; 
Where  the  dear  Isle 
Has  a  charm  to  beguile 
As  she  rests  in  the  lap 
Of  the  seas  that  enfold  her." 

WINDWARD  HAWAII.  What  can  surpass  a  trip 
along  the  Hamakua  and  Hilo  coast  1  It  is  a  constant 
panorama  of  gorge  and  table-land;  of  darksome  valleys 
whose  sides  rise  into  the  clouds;  of  great  bluffs  down 
whose  precipitous  sides  scores  of  streams  are  pouring  in 
cascades  into  the  sea;  of  rolling  fields  of  cane;  of  ex- 
pensive mills,  and  long  lines  of  flumes,  and  cosy  hamlets 
and  churches  on  the  hilltops,  and  school-houses  near  by; 


i;6  HONOLULU. 

of  extensive,  unbroken  forests;  of  distant  lava-flows 
shimmering  in  the  sunlight ;  of  mignty  mountains  raising 
their  heads  14,000  feet  into  the  sky  and  wearing  man- 
tels of  snow  that  glisten  like  fields  of  solid  silver;  and 
last  of  all,  at  the  mouth  of  the  noisy  Wailuku,  rising 
gently  from  its  beach  of  black  sand,  of  Hilo,  the  beau- 
tiful town  by  the  sea. 

BEAUTIFUL  HILO.  The  beauty  of  Honolulu  is  that 
which  comes  from  the  artificer's  hands.  The  beauty  of 
Hilo  is  that  of  nature,  prodigal  in  its  gifts  and  transcending 
all  that  art  of  man  can  compass.  Everything  at  Hilo  is 
luxuriant,  even  to  the  famous  Hilo  grass  and  the  very 
weeds  themselves.  Every  little  nook  where  nothing  else 
will  grow  is  stuffed  with  ferns  lovely  in  color  and  shape. 
Every  hill-side  is  banked  with  solid  masses  of  ferns  and 
other  beautiful  plants.  On  either  side  of  the  streets  are 
merry  streams  bubbling  with  delight  as  they  hurry  to  the 
sea.  Things  grow  so  fast  that  sods  forming  in  the  bottom 
of  these  streams  choke  the  ditches  several  times  a  year. 
Tall,  stately  banana  trees  are  in  their  glory,  and  the  roses 
and  lilies  bloom  the  year  around.  The  forests  about  Hilo 
are  of  entrancing  beauty.  Mammoth  bird's  nest  ferns 
grow  in  the  crotches  of  great  trees,  gigantic  vines  trail 
across  from  branch  to  branch,  and  ferns  in  endless  variety 
cover  rock  and  trunk  and  bend  and  sway  about  you  on 
every  hand.    Such  delicate  tracery  and  wealth  of  foliage  as 


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HONOLULU.  179 

here  abound !  It  is  a  paradise  for  the  botanist  and  the  lover 
of  nature.  All  this  is  due  to  the  abundant  rains  that  make 
Hilo  a  veritable  garden  of  delight.  Think  of  an  annual 
rainfall  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  inches  or  one  inch 
less  than  thirteen  feet  1  Stand  three  good-sized  boys,  one 
above  another,  and  the  upper  boy's  eyes  could  not  see 
above  the  surface  of  such  a  mass  of  water.  And  yet  Hilo 
is  healthful,  and  a  delightful  place  to  live  in.  It  is  here 
that  Mauna  Kea  bursts  out  in  the  morning  light  in  all  the 
glory  of  his  rugged  outlines.  It  is  hither  that  the  pilgrims 
come  to  visit  Kilauea,  for  Hilo  is  the  gate-way  to  a  not 
distant  inferno  that  men  must  reach  by  passing  first 
through  Paradise. 

COCOANUT  ISLAND.  Mokuola  or  Cocoanut  Island, 
just  across  the  bay  from  Hilo,  is  a  gem  of  beauty.  Its 
Clustered  cocoanut  trees  make  a  grove  underneath  which 
famous  picnics  are  held.  The  rough-leaved  pandanus 
trees  and  the  black  lava  rocks  on  one  side  are  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  soft  manienie  grass  and  the  light  green 
water  of  the  cosy  cove  and  the  sandy  white  beach,  where 
the  children  make  their  castles  in  the  sand.  The  native 
word,  Mokuola,  means  island  of  life  or  health,  and  was 
given  to  this  beautiful  spot  because  of  a  certain  rock 
under  water  in  the  cove  which  possessed  life  or  health- 
giving  properties.  Any  one  who  was  ill,  so  the  story 
goes,  by  swimming  under  water  three  times  around  this 


i8o  HONOLULU. 

rock  would  be  healed  of  his  sickness.  Natives  come  to 
this  spot  even  now  to  gain  exemption  from  various 
diseases. 

This  island  was  the  scene  of  a  legendary  exploit  in 
which  Kalanikupule,  the  last  king  of  Oahu,  figures  in  a 
more  heroic  role  than  in  that  last  fatal  encounter  at  Nuuanu 
Pali.  It  seems  that  he  was  enamored  of  a  beautiful  prin- 
cess, the  reputed  daughter  of  Kamehameha,  who  guarded 
her  with  jealous  eye  and  spurned  the  lover's  suit.  Learning 
that  Kamehameha  was  staying  at  Mokuola  with  his  daugh- 
ter and  some  of  his  bravest  chiefs,  Kulanikupule  sailed 
with  a  few  chosen  warriors  from  Oahu,  stealing  by  night 
along  the  Hamakua  and  Hilo  coast  in  his  war-canoe,  and 
arriving  at  Mokuola  when  Kamehameha  and  his  warriors 
were  soundly  sleeping.  Stepping  lightly  ashore  and  pick- 
ing his  way  among  the  prostrate  forms,  he  reached  the 
slumbering  princess,  raised  her  to  his  arms,  steathily  re- 
treated, gained  his  canoe  and  started  proudly  on  his  home- 
ward trip,  arriving  safely  at  Oahu,  while  Kamehameha 
chagrined  and  angry  chafed  and  fumed  at  the  audacity 
and  triumph  of  his  foe. 

The  romance  of  Mokuola  still  survives.  The  waters 
of  Hilo  Bay  still  part  before  the  prows  of  skiffs,  and 
peals  of  laughter  and  song  are  wafted  from  the  magic 
shores  across  the  moonlit  waves.  Love  still  treads  tne 
bleaching  sands,  a  willing  captive  now. 


VOLCANOES  AND  LAVA  FLOWS. 

VOLCANIC  ORIGIN.  The  Hawaiian  Islands  are  of 
volcanic  origin.  The  coral  reefs  that  everywhere  abound 
have  been  raised  on  a  substratum  of  lava,  and  are  recent 
as  compared  with  the  general  structure  of  the  group. 
The  islands  are  volcanic  peaks  and  ridges  that  have  been 
pushed  up  above  the  surrounding  seas  by  the  profound 
action  of  the  interior  forces  of  the  earth.  It  must  not  be 
supposed,  however,  that  this  action  has  been  a  violent 
perpendicular  thrust  upward  over  a  very  limited  locality, 
for  the  mountains  continue  to  slope  at  about  the  same 
angle  under  the  sea  and  for  great  distances  on  every  side, 
so  that  the  islands  are  really  the  crests  of  an  extensive 
elevation,  estimated  to  cover  an  area  of  about  2000  miles 
in  one  direction  by  1^0  or  200  miles  in  the  other.  The 
process  has  been  a  gradual  one  of  up-building  probably, 
by  means  of  which  the  sea  has  been  receding  as  the  land 
has  steadily  risen.  Some  idea  of  the  mighty  forces  that 
have  been  at  work  beneath  the  sea  and  above  it  can  be 
gained  by  considering  the  enormous  mass  of  material  now 
above  the  sea-level.  Thus,  the  bulk  of  the  island  of 
Hawaii,  the  largest  of  the  group,  has  been  estimated  by 
the  Hawaiian  Surveyor  General  as  containing  2600  cubic 

181 


1 82         VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS. 

miles  of  lava  rock  above  sea-level.  Taking  the  area  of 
Hng^and  at  ^0,000  square  miles,  this  mass  of  volcanic 
matter  would  cover  that  entire  country  to  a  depth  of  274 
feet.  We  must  remember,  however,  that  what  is  above 
sea-level  is  only  a  fraction  of  the  amount  that  sweeps 
down  below  the  waves  hundreds  of  miles  on  every  side. 
FISSURES  IN  EARTH'S  CRUST.  The  generally  ac- 
cepted theory  of  volcanic  action  proceeds  on  the  assump- 
tion that  the  earth's  interior  is  in  a  molten  condition,  and 
that  the  molten  mass  finds  outlets  through  great  fissures 
in  the  earth's  crust.  The  Hawaiian  Islands  have  been 
built  up  about  a  series  of  such  fissures  which  are  still 
open,  the  molten  currents  still  finding  vent  at  Kilauea  and 
Mokuaweoweo  on  the  island  of  Hawaii.  What  the  forces 
have  been  that  originally  produced  the  fissures  continues 
to  be  matter  of  debate.  The  authorities  do  not  agree, 
either,  as  to  the  forces  that  sustain  this  mighty  upheaval 
that  has  brought  these  remarkable  islands  to  the  surface 
and  pushed  their  loftiest  peaks  into  the  sky  almost  three 
miles  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  We  simply  know  that 
the  ocean  bed  has  subsided  and  that  the  land  has  risen. 
Some  have  advocated  the  theory  that  the  subsidence  of 
the  sea  bottom  is  due  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  molten 
mass  that  supported  it.  This  theory  makes  the  volcanic 
action  the  cause  of  the  subsidence  of  the  ocean  bed. 
Others  advocate  the  theory  that  the  uressure  that  bears 


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VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS.         185 

dovm  on  the  earth's  crust  squeezes  the  molten  matter  up 
tnrouo;h  the  fissures  previously  formed,  and  that  thus  the 
suDSidence  or  the  ocean  oed  becomes  the  cause  of  vol- 
canic action  as  witnessed  above  the  sea-level.  A  homely 
illustration  is  at  hand.  Thr  ugh  a  crack  in  an  orange  the 
juice  can  be  suck  d,  causing  the  sides  to  sink  in,  thus 
illustrating  the  first  theory ;  or,  the  juice  can  be  squirted 
out  by  squeezing,  thus  producing  the  same  result,  and 
illustrating  the  second  theory.  There  is  an  economy  of 
force  in  nature,  however,  just  as  there  is  in  a  boy,  and  as 
the  customary  boy  would  both  squeeze  and  suck,  it  is 
altogether  likely  that  the  two  phenomena  of  upheaval 
and  subsidence  are  mutually  dependent  iw  the  work  of 
der^pening  the  sea  and  of  raising  the  land  up  into  the 
sunshine. 

DEPTH  OF  SURROUNDING  SEA.  On  approaching 
the  Islands  one  is  impressed  at  the  abrupt  ascent  of  the 
land.  Steep  mountains  seem  to  rise  out  of  the  ocean  into 
the  very  clouds  with  hardly  a  change  in  the  abruptness  of 
the  ascent.  But  this  same  abruptness  continues  the  other 
way  down  into  the  sea.  Thus  the  soundings  of  the 
cable  survey  between  the  California  coast  and  the  Islands, 
show  that  all  along  the  eastern  coast  line  of  the  group 
there  is  a  great  depression  containing  the  deepest  water 
between  the  two  countries.  The  mountains  run  up  into 
the  clouds  to  an  altitude  of  three  miles,  while  they  sink 


1 86        VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS. 

down  into  this  enormous  depression  to  a  depth  of  three 
and  a  half  miles  only  four  miles  from  the  shore.  Wnat  a 
mountain  Mauna  Loa  would  be  could  it  stand  on  some 
continental  area,  instead  of  being  shouldered  up  by  the 
bed  of  the  ocean  1  Here  is  an  altitude  of  over  six  miles 
from  base  to  crest,  and  the  mountain  itself  is  a  very  fur- 
nace of  fury  and  molten  madness.  One  easily  comes  to 
respect  these  mighty  masses  of  basalt  whether  looking  up 
to  the  clouds  or  peering  vainly  down  into  the  prophetic 
blue  of  the  deep  seas  all  around  these  Islands. 

ARTESIAN  BORINGS.  From  quite  another  source 
we  get  a  vivid  impression  of  the  remarkable  changes  that 
have  gone  on  in  the  rearing  of  these  Islands  to  the  light  of 
day,  as  well  as  in  their  subsequent  subsidence.  A  great 
many  artesian  wells  have  been  sunk  during  recent  years, 
and  the  borings  h  ve  brought  to  light  the  testimony  of  the 
rocks,  both  as  to  the  age  of  the  group  and  the  process  of 
their  building  up.  The  following  record  is  from  a  boring 
near  Honolulu  and  close  to  the  seashore : — 

Gravel  and  beach  sand,  50  ft.  Soft  rock,  like  soapstone,     20  ft. 

Volcanic  tufa,    ....  270  "  Brown  clay,  with  broken 

Hard  white  coral,  like  coral, no  " 

marble,  without  break,  505  "  Hard  blue  lava,     .     .     .     45  " 

Dark  brown  clay,  .     .     .  75  "       Black  clay, ic  ^' 

Washed  gravel,      .     .     .  25  "  Red  pipe  clay,  .     ,     .     .     iS  ** 

Very  red  clay,  ....  59  "  Porous  lava  rock,      .     .  249  " 

Soft  white  coi-ai^    .     .     .  28  **  k^CO  " 


VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS.         187 

The  significant  fact  in  these  figures  is  that  the  lowest 
substratum  yet  reached  in  artesian  boring  is  lava  rock. 
Another  fact  is  the  great  depth  of  coral,  nearly  one-tenth 
of  a  mile  in  thickness.  Another  is  the  recurrence  of  lava 
and  of  coral,  showing  that  the  land  has  been  built  up  by 
successive  outpourings  of  lava,  and  that  during  intermis- 
sions of  volcanic  action  coral  insects  have  reared  their 
monuments  of  industry  unmolested.  These  artesian  bor- 
ings reveal  a  great  age  for  the  mere  surface  of  the  islands. 
What,  then,  must  be  the  antiquity  of  the  foundations  on 
which  rests  all  this  mountain  structure  that  bathes  its 
forehead  in  the  clouds! 

SUBSIDENCE  AND  UPHEAVAL.  The  artesian  bor- 
ings unmistakably  point  to  a  remarkable  subsidence.  In 
one  well,  at  a  depth  of  two  hundred  and  forty-five  feet, 
carbonized  wood  was  found  under  a  bed  of  coral  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  thickness.  The  testimony  of 
artesian  borings  is  uniform  in  attesting  to  a  general  sub- 
sidence on  the  Island  of  Oahu  especially.  Along  the 
coast  of  Puna,  Hawaii,  the  sea  now  rolls  in  great  breakers 
over  what  was  dry  land  as  late  as  the  year  1868.  Coco- 
anut  trees  that  were  once  a  refreshment  to  foot-sore 
travelers  now  stand  out  in  the  sea  the  land  and  all  on 
it  having  thus  sunk  bodily  beneath  the  waves.  This  was 
a  local  subsidence,  and  there  are  examples  in  the  same 
redon  showing  local  upheavals.    The  best  example  of 


i8S         VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA    FLOWS. 

general  upheaval  is  in  Oahu,  where  large  areas  that  were 
once  under  water  are  now  covered  with  soil  and  verdure. 
A  large  part  of  Honolulu  is  built  on  a  coral  foundation 
that  underlies  the  black  lava  sand  and  soil.  A  notable 
example  of  upheaval  is  the  remnant  of  a  coral  reef  that 
still  adheres  to  the  flanks  of  the  Waianae  Mountains  at 
an  elevation  of  eighty  feet  above  sea-level.  These  facts 
almost  persuade  us  that  the  enormous  mass  composing 
these  Islands  possess  animation,  and  that  these  altera- 
tions of  subsidence  and  upheaval  are  the  respirations  of 
this  imprisoned  being.  What  lungs  he  must  have  to 
occupy  centuries  in  a  single  inspiration  1 

RELATIVE  AGE  OF  ISLANDS.  The  northern 
islands  are  older  than  the  southern,  volcanic  action  having 
ceased  in  all  the  islands  except  Hawaii,  the  most  southern 
of  the  group.  The  dying  out  of  volcanic  energy  seems  to 
have  been  in  the  same  direction  in  the  history  of  the 
individual  islands,  the  northern  portion,  as  a  rule  showing 
greater  depth  of  soil,  and  fewer  signs  of  lava  flows. 
The  evidence  of  subsidence  is  more  pronounced  toward 
the  north,  and  this  again  would  indicate  greater  age  for 
Oahu  and  Kauai  than  for  Hawaii.  It  is  not  improbable, 
however,  that  portions  of  Hawaii  were  above  water  be- 
fore the  craters  of  Oahu  lost  their  activity.  As  Green  has 
suggested  in  his  "Vestiges  of  the  Molten  Globe,"  a  depres- 
sion of  the  island  of  Hawaii  6.000  feet  would  divide  it 


VOLCANOES    AND    LAVA    FLOWS  189 

jn^o  four  separate  islands,  marked  by  four  peaks, — Kohala, 
Hualalai,  Mauna  Kea,  and  Mauna  Loa.  Thus  Mauna  Kea, 
for  instance,  may  be  as  old  as  the  islands  to  the  north, 
having:  helped  to  build  up  the  connection  between  itself 
and  the  other  mountain  islands  long  before  the  cessation 
of  its  own  action.  The  various  stages  of  upheaval  may 
have  occupied  long  ages.  We  seem,  however,  to  be  at 
Vulcan's  furnace  door  as  we  view  the  glistening  lava-fields 
that  shimmer  with  the  sun's  heat  as  though  all  molten 
within.  Men  have  sought  to  compute  the  amount  of 
molten  material  that  has  been  spread  on  the  flanks  of 
Mauna  Loa  during  the  last  half-century.  A  conservative 
estimate  puts  the  amount  at  about  two  cubic  miles.  At 
such  a  speed,  we  should  find  this  particular  island  to  be 
less  than  sixty-five  thousand  years  old,  thus  making  it, 
geographically  considered,  a  recent  creation.  But  there  are 
evidences  of  violent  catastrophism  in  the  great  gorges  and 
enormous  precipices  that  convince  us  that  the  origin  of  the 
islands  is  even  more  recent. 

WORLD  BUILDING.  At  the  brink  of  Kilauea,  the 
enormous  pit  crater  of  Hawaii,  we  behold  the  mighty 
forces  that  have  been  building  our  world  since  the  dawn 
of  time.  At  the  edge  of  the  mammoth  lava  flov/s  that 
have  rushed  down  Mauna  Loa  forty  miles  to  the  sea,  we 
discover  the  method  by  which  the  mighty  forces  of  the 
interior  have  built  up  the  land  out  of  the  water.    This 


I90        VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS. 

is  world  building  before  our  eyes.  We  seem  to  come 
into  touch  with  the  hoary  ages  when  God  said,  Let  the 
dry  land  appear.  We  get  glimpses  into  the  past  of  this 
planet  of  ours,  more  luminous  than  the  most  graphic 
portrayals  of  the  beginnings  of  creation.  The  panorama 
of  great  processes  of  action  lies  open  to  our  view.  Here 
is  the  water  all  about  and  here  is  the  land  emerging  from 
the  deep.  Here  are  the  mighty  constructive  forces  at 
work  building  the  basis  for  vegetation  and  the  habita- 
tion of  man.  These  may  be  dying  forces  with  their  work 
almost  completed,  but  they  are  the  original  forces  that 
have  made  the  world  what  it  is  to-day.  Probably  no 
country  affords  as  convenient  and  accessible  and  enjoy- 
able advantages  for  viewing  volcanic  phenomena  through- 
out their  whole  range  as  the  island  of  Hawaii. 

MOKUAWEOWEO,  THE  TERRIBLE.  The  summit 
of  Mauna  Loa  contains  an  immense  pit  nine  and  a  half 
miles  in  circumference  and  from  800  to  1000  feet  deep. 
This  pit  is  the  far-famed  Mokuaweoweo  from  which 
periodical  eruptions  occur  at  intervals  of  eleven  years. 
The  pit  always  contains  molten  lava  or  steam.  Some- 
times the  overhanging  clouds  will  be  lighted  up  as  though 
by  a  great  conflagration  when  no  eruption  from  the  mount- 
ain takes  place.  At  such  times,  numerous  fountains,  sev- 
eral hundred  feet  high,  will  spout  liquid  lava  like  so  many 
whales  sporting  themselves  in  the  sea.    Those  who  have 


VOLCANOES    AND    LAVA    FLOWS.         ^91 

looked  from  the  summit  down  into  that  vast  caldron  at 
such  times  have  remarked  the  death-like  stillness,  broken 
only  by  the  uncanny  splash  of  the  great  molten  clots  fall- 
ing from  the  fountains  back  to  the  floor  of  the  crater.  At 
that  great  height,  13,67^  feet,  withdrawn  from  the  noises 
of  busy  life  far  below,  the  echo  of  thud  and  splash,  and 
occasional  explosion  of  confined  gas  is  certainly  unearthly 
enough.  But  the  majesty  of  this  mammoth  mountain  is 
realized  only  when  with  mighty  effort  it  rends  its  sides 
and  vomits  forth  rivers  of  fire  that  madly  rush  down  its 
slopes  sometimes  even  to  the  very  sea.  One  such  scene 
I  recall  vividly.  At  the  time  I  was  camping  on  Mauna 
Kea,  just  across  the  great  plain  that  separates  the  two 
mountains.  From  the  side  of  Mauna  Loa,  at  a  height  of 
10,000  feet,  the  molten  river  was  belching  forth  like  a 
torrent.  At  night,  the  course  taken  by  the  lava  seemed 
like  a  sinuous  stream  of  glowing  fire,  and  all  the  mount- 
ain side  was  illuminated,  and  the  glare  came  into  our  open 
tent,  while  across  that  black  intervening  waste  of  lava, 
desolate  in  the  daytime,  but  weird  and  ominous  at  night, 
came  low,  discordant  tones  that  told  of  the  furious  prog- 
ress of  the  outbreak.  That  broad  stretching  mountain 
seemed  like  a  great  den  of  fiery  gorgons,  one  of  whom 
was  gliding  all  ablaze  down  toward  the  haunts  of  men. 
From  the  top  of  Mauna  Kea,  the  next  day,  the  impres- 
sion of  the  night  before  was  not  lessened  as  to  the  vast 


192         VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA    FLOWS. 

resources  and  limitless  powers  of  Mauna  Loa.  The  flanks 
of  the  sombre  mountain  showed  numierous  black  ridges, 
where  the  lava  had  poured  down,  many  of  these  ridges 
going  back  beyond  the  memory  of  man,  while  in  every 
direction  across  the  plateau  lay  the  rigid  lava-flows  stretch- 
ing like  tentacles  until  lost  in  the  woods  or  in  the  haze  ot 
the  distant  shore  line. 

GREAT  INTERIOR  PLAIN.  Hawaii  appears  verdant 
and  beautiful  from  the  sea,  but  the  immediate  foreground, 
as  seen  from  the  slopes  of  Mauna  Kea  or  Mauna  Loa,  is 
a  wild  waste  of  lava.  Lava-flows  have  crossed  and 
recrossed  one  another  in  a  confused  net-work,  and  the 
desolation  is  complete  and  awful.  Among  the  more  recent 
flows,  the  most  pronounced  are  those  of  18^5",  18^9  and 
1880.  These  are  clearly  defined  and  are  especially  note- 
worthy for  the  vast  amount  of  lava  disgorged  and  the  dis- 
tance traversed  by  each.  Being  more  recent,  their  black, 
bulky  masses  impress  the  observer  as  do  none  of  the 
others  that  may  have  been  more  terrible  in  their  course 
but  of  which  no  record  remains.  Each  of  these  three 
flows  started  from  great  rents  in  the  mountain  side,  at 
elevations  of  from  10,000  to  12,000  feet.  The  18^9  and 
1880  flows  had  their  sources  in  comparative  proximity, 
but  the  18^9  flow  started  well  around  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  mountain. 

THE   LAVA   FLOW  OF    18^^.     This  flow  was 


GREAT  RUSH  OF  BOILING  LAVA  INTO  THE  \VA  lER— (Lava  Flows  of 
Mauna  Lea  is  a  better  title.)  Lava  flows  from  the  top  of  Mauna  Loa  have  taken 
place  from  time  to  time.  Rivers  of  fire  have  flowed  down  the  steep  mountain  side, 
sometimes  moving  slowly,  lasting  several  months,  and  again  dashing  down  with 
great  speed,  destroying  everything  in  their  path. 


VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS.         195 

remarkable  for  its  extent,  being  from  two  to  eight  miles 
wide,  with  a  depth  of  from  three  to  three  hundred  feet, 
and  extending  in  a  winding  course  for  a  distance  of  sixty 
miles.  Writes  the  Apostle  of  Hawaiian  volcanoes,  the 
Rev.  Titus  Coan,  who  went  to  the  source  of  this  flow 
while  it  was  in  supreme  action, — "We  ascended  our 
rugged  pathway  amidst  steam  and  smoke  and  heat  which 
almost  blinded  and  scathed  us.  We  came  to  open  orifices 
down  which  we  looked  into  the  fiery  river  which  rushed 
madly  under  our  feet.  These  fiery  vents  were  frequent, 
some  of  them  measuring  ten,  twenty,  fifty  or  one  hundred 
feet  in  diameter.  In  one  place  only  we  saw  the  river  un- 
covered for  thirty  rods  and  rushing  down  a  declivity  of 
from  ten  to  twenty-five  degrees.  The  scene  was  awful, 
the  momentum  incredible,  the  fusion  perfect  (white  heat), 
and  the  velocity  forty  miles  an  hour.  The  banks  on  each 
side  of  the  stream  were  red-hot,  jagged  and  overhanging. 
As  we  viewed  it  rushing  out  from  under  its  ebon  counter- 
pane, and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  diving  again  into  its 
fiery  den,  it  seemed  to  say,  '  Stand  off  1  Scan  me  not ! 
I  am  God's  messenger.  A  work  to  do.  Away  I '  "  Later 
he  wrote  again, — "  The  great  summit  fountain  is  still  play- 
ing with  fearful  energy,  and  the  devouring  stream 
rushes  madly  down  toward  us.  It  is  now  about  ten 
miles  aistant,  and  heading  directly  for  our  bay.  In  a 
few  days  we  may  be  called  to  announce  the  painful  fact 


196         VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA    FLOWS. 

that  our  beauteous  Hilo  is  no  more, — that  our  lovely,  our 
inimitable  landscape,  our  emerald  bowers,  our  crescent 
strand  and  our  silver  bay  are  blotted  out.  A  fiery  sword 
hangs  over  us.  A  flood  of  burning  ruin  approaches  us. 
Devouring  fires  are  near  us.  With  sure  and  solemn  prog- 
ress the  glowing  fusion  advances  through  the  dark  forest 
and  the  dense  jungle  in  our  rear,  cutting  down  ancient 
trees  of  enormous  growth  and  sweeping  away  all  vege- 
table life.  For  months  the  great  summit  furnace  on 
Mauna  Loa  has  been  in  awful  blast.  Floods  of  burning 
destruction  have  swept  wildly  and  widely  over  the  top 
and  down  the  sides  of  the  mountain.  The  wrathful 
stream  has  overcome  every  obstacle,  winding  its  fiery  way 
from  its  high  source  to  the  bases  of  the  everlasting  hills, 
spreading  in  a  molten  sea  over  the  plains,  penetrating  the 
ancient  forests,  driving  the  bellowing  herds,  the  wild  goats 
and  the  affrighted  birds  before  its  lurid  glare,  leaving  noth- 
ing but  ebon  blackness  and  smoldering  ruin  in  its  track." 
With  rigid  beetling  front  this  remarkable  flow  came  to  an 
abrupt  halt  seven  miles  from  Hilo. 

THE  LAVA  FLOW  OF  18^9.  Writes  Mr.  Coan  of 
this  outbreak, — "On  the  22d  ult.  (January,  18^9),  the 
summit  of  Mauna  Loa  was  rent  with  volcanic  fires,  and 
a  deluge  of  igneous  fusion  rushed  forth  and  poured  down 
the  mountain.  Such  was  the  energy  of  the  flood  that  in 
an  hour  or  two  it  had  reached  some  twenty  miles,  tilling 


VOLCANOES    AND    LAVA   FLOWS.         197 

the  heavens  with  light  and  rolling  in  vivid  and  burning 
waves  over  the  plains  below.  At  first  we  thought  the 
stream  was  coming  towards  Hilo,  but  at  length  it  turned 
and  rolled  over  towards  the  western  coast,  and  entered 
the  sea  on  the  eighth  day  after  the  eruption.  The  dis- 
tance may  be  fifty  miles.  It  is  still  flowing  with  great 
power." 

Mr.  Vaudrey,  who  was  on  the  mountain  at  the  time  of 
this  eruption,  got  as  close  as  the  heat  would  let  him  and 
described  what  he  saw  "  as  a  simple  fountain  of  white-hot 
molten  stone,  hundreds  of  feet  high  and  wide,  the  fall  of 
which  made  a  continual  dull  roar,  and  caused  the  ground 
to  tremble  beneath  me." 

Writes  Mr.  Green,  who  saw  the  lava  from  this  flow 
entering  the  sea, — "  The  red-hot  molten  lava  was  quietly 
tumbling  into  the  sea  over  a  low  ledge,  perhaps  six  to 
eight  feet  high,  and  five  to  six  hundred  feet  long.  The  lava 
did  not  seem  to  be  quite  so  liquid,  or  of  such  a  bright 
color  as  it  did  when  it  ran  out  of  openings  in  the  side 
wall  of  the  stream  up  in  the  mountain.  It  ran  more  like 
porridge,  in  great,  flattened  spheroids,  which  were  some- 
times partially  united  together,  and  sometimes  almost  sep- 
arate. There  was  no  steam  to  be  seen  escaping  from  the 
lava,  and  it  was  not  until  after  each  spheroidal  mass  had 
disappeared  for  a  second  or  two  under  water  that  puffs 
of  steam  came  to  the  surface.    The  general  effect,  how- 


198         VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA   FLOWS. 

ever,  was  an  apparent  steady  rise  of  steam  along  the  whole 
line.     It  was  a  cataract  of  molten  stone." 

THE  LAVA  FLOW  OF  1880.  Early  Friday  night, 
November  6,  1880,  a  bright  light  was  reflected  from  the 
clouds  above  Mauna  Loa  that  increased  in  brilliancy  until 
morning.  All  day  Saturday  great  clouds  of  smoke  could 
be  seen  at  Hilo,  fifty  miles  away,  rising  from  the  mountain 
as  from  a  city  that  had  been  swept  by  a  great  con- 
flagration. Saturday  evening  the  mountain  was  wrapped 
in  clouds,  but  toward  midnight  they  scattered,  revealing 
a  spectacle  that  was  magnificent  beyond  all  description. 
The  summit  crater  was  emitting  a  dense  smoke,  lighted 
up  by  the  molten  lake  of  lava.  Below,  on  the  mountain 
side,  was  an  embrasure  from  which  the  lava  was  running 
down  like  a  river.  Not  a  break  could  be  seen  from  the 
outlet  to  the  very  head  of  the  fiery  mass.  It  was  a  con- 
tinuous stream  of  glowing  lava,  heated  to  incandescence, 
moving  steadily  down  the  mountain  side.  It  was  like  a 
living  creature  gliding  out  of  its  fiery  prison-house  all 
aglow, 

"Squirming  and  gliding  in  the  mountain's  blaze, 
Like  a  great  serpent  with  a  skin  of  gold." 

Its  progress  was  rapid  considering  the  distance  of  the 
point  of  view,  and  subsequent  observation  along  the  line 
of  the  flow  proved  that  the  velocity  must  have  been 
tremendous. 


KANEOHE  VALLEY. — Kaneohe  is  on  the  north  side  of  Oahu.  The  mountains 
form  a  vast  circular  wall  surrounding  the  valley,  with  the  exception  of  the  side 
towards  the  ocean,  where  the  waters  of  Kaheohe  Bay  wash  the  rocky  shores. 


VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS.         201 

Mr.  David  Hitchcock,  who  was  camping  on  Mauna 
Kea  at  the  time  of  this  outbreak,  saw  a  spectacle  that  few 
human  eyes  have  ever  beheld.  "  We  stood,"  writes  he, 
"on  the  very  edge  of  that  flowing  river  of  rock.  Oh, 
what  a  sight  it  was  I  Not  twenty  feet  from  us  was  this 
immense  bed  of  rock  slowly  moving  forward  with  irre- 
sistible force,  bearing  on  its  surface  huge  rock  and  im- 
mense bowlders  of  tons'  weight  as  water  would  carry  a 
toy-boat.  The  whole  front  edge  was  one  bright  red  mass  of 
solid  rock  incessantly  breaking  off  from  the  towering  mass 
and  rolling  down  to  the  foot  of  it,  to  be  again  covered  by 
another  avalanche  of  white-hot  rocks  and  sand.  The 
whole  mass  at  its  front  edge  was  from  twelve  to  thirty 
feet  in  height.  Along  the  entire  line  of  its  advance  it  was 
one  crash  of  rolling,  sliding,  tumbling  red-hot  rock.  We 
could  hear  no  explosions  while  we  were  near  the  flow, 
only  a  tremendous  roaring  like  ten  thousand  blast  fur- 
naces all  at  work  at  once."  This  was  the  most  extensive 
flow  of  recent  years,  and  its  progress  from  the  interior 
plain  through  the  dense  forests  above  Hilo  and  out  on  to 
the  open  levels  close  to  the  town  was  startling  and  men- 
acing enough.  Through  the  woods  especially  it  was  a 
turbulent,  seething  mass  that  toppled  over  mammoth  trees, 
and  licked  up  streams  of  water,  and  day  and  night  kept  up 
an  unintermitting  cannonade  of  explosions.  The  steam 
and  imprisoned  gases  would  burst  the  congealing  surface 


202         VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA   FLOWS. 

with  loud  detonations  that  could  be  heard  for  many  miles. 
It  was  not  an  infrequent  thing  for  parties  to  camp  out 
close  to  the  flow  over  night.  Ordinarily  a  lava-flow 
moves  sluggishly  and  congeals  rapidly,  so  that  what  seems 
like  hardihood  in  the  narrating  is  in  reality  calm  judgment, 
for  it  is  perfectly  safe  to  be  in  the  close  vicinity  of  a  lava- 
stream,  and  even  to  walk  on  its  surface  as  soon  as  one 
would  be  inclined  to  walk  on  cooling  iron  in  a  foundry. 
This  notable  flow  finally  ceased  within  half  a  mile  of  Hilo, 
where  its  black  form  is  a  perpetual  reminder  of  a  marvel- 
lous deliverance  from  destruction. 

THE  HILO  VIADUCT.  For  several  years  there  was 
a  remarkable  cave  in  the  flow  of  1880,  about  five  miles 
from  Hilo,  which  has  since  been  broken  in.  In  1884,  I 
went  into  this  cave  with  a  companion,  and  followed  it 
down  by  tape-measure  1 1  ^o  feet.  The  entrance  was  a 
red-lava  flume  with  a  dip  of  3^°,  the  surface  all  about 
being  hard  and  highly  polished.  We  went  in  on  our 
backs,  feet  first,  through  a  narrow  opening,  and  dropped 
perhaps  three  feet  into  a  tunnel,  whose  dark  polished  sides 
were  studded  with  nodes  that  glistened  in  the  candle- 
light. This  tunnel  was  of  striking  beauty.  We  went  in  a 
couching  posture  for  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet,  when 
we  came  out  into  a  large  gallery  twelve  or  fifteen  feet 
high  and  about  ten  feet  wide.  After  we  had  gone  three 
hundred  and  thirty  feet  we  came  to  a  large  cave-in  from 


VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS.         203 

the  roof  of  the  viaduct,  which  contained  many  tons  of 
basaltic  lava.  We  then  went  down  a  steeper  decline. 
The  tunnel  became  so  contracted  that  at  times  it  was  dif- 
ficult to  go  ahead.  Now  and  then  we  met  with  little  vil- 
lages of  stalagmites  that  seemed  like  so  many  diminutive 
denizens  of  the  nether  world.  We  cut  our  heads  against 
the  numerous  stalactites  that  hung  their  sharp  points  from 
the  arching  roof.  At  a  thousand  feet  we  discovered  day- 
light ahead,  and  at  last  stood  under  an  opening  through 
which  we  could  again  gaze  into  the  bright  blue  sky.  This 
tunnel  was  the  central  viaduct  through  which  the  molten 
stream  from  the  mountain  sustained  the  onward  move- 
ment of  that  vast  field  of  lava  that  now  lies  black  and 
ugly  back  of  Hilo.  What  a  gallery  of  furies  must  this 
have  been  as  the  mad  mass  sped  along  1  It  is  now  cold 
and  black  and  silent,  the  catacombs  of  exhausted  phys- 
ical energies  that  have  passed  away  in  the  building  of  a 
world. 

THE  FORGES  OF  VULCAN,  it  will  take  long  years 
to  efface  the  impression  made  on  me  by  the  fiery  flank  of 
Mauna  Loa  as  I  saw  it  at  midnight  from  the  summit  of 
Mauna  Kea,  in  1880.  There  was  that  dome-like  mount- 
ain, a  huge  black  mass,  whose  interior  is  a  vast  furnace 
of  fire,  and  by  the  side  of  which  Vesuvius  is  but  a  toy. 
There  were  those  rising  clouds  of  illuminated  smoke,  and 
through  the  open  furnace  door  we  could  see  the  elemental 


204         VOLCANOES    AND    LAVA    FLOWS. 

fires  as  they  glowed  ominously  across  the  midnight  waste. 
And  yet  there  was  no  earthquake,  no  sound  of  the  raging 
fires,  nothing  but  the  silence  of  night  and  the  glowing 
lava,  and  far  below  us,  but  unseen,  the  broad  Pacific 
washing  the  shores  of  Hilo,  but  bringing  to  our  ears  no 
roar  of  breakers  or  of  surf.  Quite  in  contrast  was  the 
weird  feeling  that  came  over  me  as  I  sat  at  night  in  the 
silent  forest  and  heard  the  dull  detonations  of  the  lava 
five  miles  away,  as  it  burned  and  crashed  its  way  through 
the  dense  woods.  Occasionally  one  explosion  louder 
than  the  rest  startles  me  with  the  thought  of  its  prox- 
imity. Sometimes  several  explosions  follow  in  quick 
succession,  and  I  am  impressed  with  what  seems  to  be 
the  unearthly  industry  of  those  elemental  forces.  As  the 
boom  boom  I  comes  through  the  tree  tops  is  it  hard  to 
imagine  that  the  forges  of  Vulcan  are  in  full  blast,  and 
that  the  Cyclops  are  hammering  away  for  dear  life  ?  Is 
it  surprising  that  with  such  sounds  in  their  memory,  the 
ancients,  in  their  mythologies,  should  have  peopled  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  with  divinities  and  giant  workers? 
Or,  is  it  strange  that  those  simple  islanders,  in  the  times 
of  their  ignorance,  should  have  yielded  homage  to  Pele, 
the  feminine  Vulcan  of  Hawaiian  tradition  ? 

KILAUEA.  Hawaii  boasts  the  largest  active  volcano  in 
the  world.  Kilauea,  unlike  Mokauweoweo,  is  ceaselessly 
in  action.    Great  eruptions  are  not  constantly  occurring. 


Ti    a    ~ 


^  '"    u 


y  ^^  -^ 


N      So' 


<u  rz  -ii    a 


rt    =    a  .^1 


«  ^  -g  -3 


O     3      O 


♦-H        >        C/l 


i^Ksdn  -^^s.Vl. 


=   b/3  a 


(/:     X    Im 


VOLCANOES    AND    LAVA    FLOWS.         207 

but  the  lava  in  the  various  lakes  of  Kilauea  is  never 
quiescent  and  is  frequently  in  violent  ebullition.  This 
volcano  is  a  pit  five  or  six  hundred  feet  deep,  and  eight 
miles  in  circumference.  What  a  pit  it  is  1  Down  on  its 
floor  men  look  no  larger  than  crows.  As  we  descend, 
those  cliffs  at  our  left  beetle  over  us  as  though  they  really 
were  falling.  And  when  the  floor  is  reached  and  we  look 
up  it  quite  strains  the  muscles  of  one's  neck.  Why, 
several  boastful  American  cities  could  be  dumped  into  that 
pit  and  never  a  monument  or  steeple  of  them  all  would 
show  above  its  rim.  Its  floor  is  as  black  as  though  a  fire 
had  swept  across  its  prairie-like  surface,  but  it  glistens  and 
shimmers  in  the  sunshine  like  a  floor  of  glass.  It  does 
not  appear  so  level  on  nearer  approach,  but  is  like  an 
immense  ice-floe,  the  great  cakes  and  slabs  of  lava  being 
piled  up  in  endless  confusion. 

FLOOR  OF  THE  CRATER.  I  take  my  first  step  on 
the  glistening  surface  and  it  crackles  under  foot  like  the 
thin  icy  crust  on  snow.  The  lava,  cooling  rapidly,  forms  a 
thin  layer  of  the  nature  of  glass,  hard  and  sharp  but 
exceedingly  brittle.  Underneath  this  vitreous  shell  the 
denser  lava  congeals  more  slowly,  and  is  heavy  as  stone, 
whereas  the  crust  is  light  as  charcoal  and  nearly  as  porous. 
How  it  sparkles  on  its  nether  side!  In  the  sunlight  it 
gives  back  all  the  colors  of  the  precious  stones — ^amethyst, 
beryl,  ruby,  sapphire  and  emerald.     Its  surface  is  com- 


2oS        VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA   FLOWS. 

paratively  smooth,  but  turn  it  and  the  light  penetrates 
millions  of  opaline  cells.  This  wafer-like  crust  in  some 
places  is  only  a  treacherous  covering  of  concealed  fissures 
and  cavities.  Crunch,  crunch  we  go  in  Indian  file  on  our 
weary  three-mile  walk.  Here  is  a  place  where  the  lava 
spread  out  its  long  fingers  like  the  tentacles  of  a  devil- 
fish. Here  we  are  reminded  of  the  great  hawsers  of  an 
ocean  steamship,  so  exactly  are  all  the  ropy  twistings  imi- 
tated. I  break  off  a  small  cone,  a  few  inches  high,  and 
it  is  a  nest  of  sulphur  crystals.  I  put  my  hand  into  a 
crack  and  it  is  uncomfortably  warm.  I  step  on  one  end 
of  a  large  slab  of  lava  and  it  breaks  like  ice,  giving  me 
a  fall  of  six  inches  or  more, — a.  thing  which  somewhat 
startles  me.  The  smoke  rises  ahead  of  us,  but  we  can 
see  nothing  more.  What  will  be  our  sensations  when 
we  reach  that  awful  caldron  and  look  down  on  its  rest- 
less, heaving  surface  1  A  mile  back  the  guide  whets  the 
excitement  of  the  occasion  by  running  to  a  hillock  that  is 
unusually  black  and  glistening,  and  which  proves  to  be 
decidedly  warm.  "  That  was  last  night,"  he  says,  with 
beaming  face. 

THE  LAKE  OF  FIRE.  The  guide  leads  across  fissures 
that  are  multiplying  about  us,  and  from  which  hot  air 
rises.  This  place  looks  as  though  it  might  vomit  liquid 
lava  any  moment.  Here  we  teeter  on  a  broad  cake,  that 
may  be  the  only  thing  between  us  and  the  liquid  lava. 


VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA   FLOWS.         209 

How  hollow  our  feet  sound  as  we  step  from  cake  to 
cake!  I  hear  what  sounds  like  the  sea  madly  booming 
in  a  deep  cavern.  I  hear  the  sizzling  of  steam.  The 
swash  of  the  surf,  and  the  grinding  and  crackling  of  a 
river  breaking  up  in  spring  are  sounds  that  become  more 
distinct  at  each  step.  The  heat  is  intense.  All  the  way 
the  sun  has  shone  with  steady  glare,  and  its  rays  have 
been  sent  back  into  our  faces  from  the  glass-like  surface. 
But  now  the  heat  is  dry  and  burns  with  its  breath. 
Louder  and  louder  are  the  sounds  so  strangely  mixed. 
A  report  deep  as  of  a  cannon  is  followed  by  a  rattle  of 
musketry.  Just  then,  we  run  a  few  steps  to  the  left, 
and  Halemaumau,  the  house  everlasting,  the  lake  which 
burneth  with  fire  and  brimstone,  whose  fire  is  not 
quenched,  lies  all  exposed  to  view.  At  the  farther  end  is 
a  red-hot  cave  into  which  the  lava  booms  and  splashes, 
and  from  whose  roof  hang  numberless  orange-colored 
stalactites,  just  in  process  of  formation,  the  ends  of  the 
longer  ones  anon  bathed  in  the  ebbing  and  glowing  cur- 
rent, and  dripping  like  melting  icicles.  Yonder  is  an  island, 
behind  which  there  is  exceptional  disturbance.  The  great 
surface  heaves  like  billows  and,  dashing  against  the  walls 
which  inclose  the  lake,  spatters  them  with  great  clots  of 
melted  stone.  Again  the  lake  is  as  immobile  as  though 
frozen.  At  such  limes  visitors  look  with  disdain  at  the 
brown  congealed  surface.    Where  is  the  turbulent  sea  of 


2IO        VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA   FLOWS. 

fire  ?  they  exclaim.  Hardly  does  such  a  complaint  escape 
when  crack  I  and  a  seam  opens  clear  across  the  lake,  and 
a  yellowish-red  liquid  oozes  out  that  looks  like  boiling 
molasses.  The  activity  increases.  A  dozen  fountains 
begin  to  play.  The  whole  surface  palpitates,  the  cracks 
multiply,  and  like  a  mighty  tide  the  current  sets  in  behind 
the  island,  fountains  playing  at  many  points  over  the 
rapidly  changing  lake.  Halemaumau,  now  everywhere 
broken  and  boiling,  begins  to  rise.  The  lava  moves  about 
in  indescribable  currents,  crowds  the  narrow  passage  back 
of  the  island,  halts  a  moment,  and  tips  one-third  of  the 
mass  into  the  seething  lake.  It  is  like  the  launching  of 
an  iron-clad.  Liquid  tongues  of  fire  leap  up  and  close 
over  it,  the  gi'eat  cakes  of  congealed  lava  slide  over  the 
place  where  it  disappeared,  and  the  mighty  mass  continues 
throbbing  until  gradually  the  surface  congeals  again,  and 
all  action  seems  to  cease.  As  one  stands  in  the  hot 
breathings  of  that  busy  caldron,  it  is  easy  to  recall  the 
graphic  imagery  of  T.  B.  Aldrich: — 

"  I  saw  wild  figures  there, 
Sometimes  it  was  a  castle 
With  turrets  all  agleam ; 
A  draw  bridge,  stretching  like  an  arm 
Across  the  molten  stream ; 
Gonfalons,  and  warriors 
Encased  in  armor  red; 
And  all  the  legends  I  had  heard 
Came  trooping  thro'  my  head." 


VOLCANOES    AND    LAVA    FLOWS.         211 

THE  GODDESS  PELE.  When  there  is  unusual  com- 
motion in  Kilauea,  myriads  of  thread-like  filaments  float 
in  the  air  and  fall  upon  the  cliffs,  making  deposits  much 
resembling  matted  hair.  A  single  filament  over  fifteen 
inches  long  was  picked  up  by  me  from  my  Hilo  veranda, 
having  sailed  in  the  air  from  Mokuaweoweo,  a  distance 
of  fifty  miles.  This  is  the  famous  Pele's  Hair,  being  the 
glass-like  product  of  volcanic  fires.  It  resembles  Prince 
Rupert's  Drops,  and  the  tradition  is  that  whenever  the  vol- 
cano becomes  active,  it  is  because  Pele,  the  goddess  of 
this  pit,  emerges  from  her  fiery  furnace  and  shakes  her 
vitreous  locks  in  anger.  This  fabled  being,  according  to 
Emerson,  in  a  paper  on  The  Lesser  Hawaiian  Gods, 
"could  at  times  assume  the  appearance  of  a  handsome 
young  woman,  as  when  Kamapuaa,  to  his  cost,  was 
smitten  with  her  charms  when  first  he  saw  her  with  her 
sisters  at  Kilauea."  This  Kamapuaa  was  a  gigantic  hog  who 
"could  appear  as  a  handsome  young  man,  a  hog,  a  fish,  or 
a  tree."  "At  other  times  the  innate  character  of  the  fury 
showed  itself,  and  Pele  appeared  in  her  usual  form  as  an 
ugly  and  hateful  old  hag,  with  tattered  and  fire-burnt 
garments,  scarcely  concealing  the  filth  and  nakedness  of 
her  person.  Her  bloodshot  eyes  and  fiendish  counte- 
nance paralyzed  the  beholder,  and  her  touch  turned  him 
to  stone.  She  was  a  jealous  and  vindictive  monster,  de- 
lighting in  cruelty,  and  at  the  slightest  provocation  over- 


212         VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA    FLOWS. 

whelming  the  unoffending  victims  of  her  rage  in  wide- 
spread ruin." 

AT  CLOSER  RANGE.  Notwithstanding  the  terrific 
eruptions  that  have  traced  their  tale  of  destruction  over  a 
large  part  of  Hawaii,  it  is  comparatively  safe  to  venture 
on  to  the  surface,  underneath  which  a  molten  tide  is  rush- 
ing, or  to  stand  within  reaching  distance  of  the  palpitating 
but  viscid  surface  of  some  of  the  smaller  lakes  in  the 
crater  of  Kilauea.  There  are  premonitory  symptoms  of 
approaching  eruption  that  give  ample  warning  to  experi- 
enced persons.  Do  you  wish  to  study  the  movement  of 
great  lava-flows?  Here  is  a  tiny  stream,  moving  slug- 
gishly on  the  floor  of  the  crater,  and  we  seat  ourselves 
within  three  feet  of  it  and  watch  its  progress.  The  dark 
crust,  only  partially  congealed  at  the  front  of  the  stream, 
swells  and  swells  until  it  opens  and  exudes  molten  matter 
sufficient  to  cover  a  square  foot,  which  in  turn  congeals 
and  grows  blacker  until  the  pressure  of  the  heated  mass 
in  the  conduit  underneath  again  lifts  up  the  crust  and 
spreads  itself  as  before.  The  direction  of  the  flow  de- 
pends wholly  upon  the  location  of  the  weakest  spots  in 
the  congealed  surface.  If  that  is  always  at  the  front,  the 
pressure  will  cause  the  lava  to  go  up  hill  rather  than  down 
a  steep  slope  close  at  hand,  down  which  it  certainly  would 
go  were  the  congealed  crust  on  that  side  weaker  than 
in  front. 


VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA    FLOWS.         213 

Do  you  wish  to  hear  the  weird,  uncanny  voices  from 
the  bottomless  pit  ?  Come  with  me  to  yonder  cone,  fif- 
teen feet  high,  that  is  puffing  like  a  fire-engine.  We  go  up 
to  it,  and  find  that  its  base  is  hot  and  that  lava  is  oozing 
out  of  an  opening  in  the  side.  We  thrust  our  canes  into 
the  steam-hole  and  the  cone  trembles  and  roars  as  though 
it  would  blow  us  out  of  existence.  Just  beyond  we  climb 
up  another  cone,  and  peer  down  into  its  interior  as  well 
as  we  can  in  the  face  of  hot  currents  and  puffs  that  almost 
scorch  us.  Those  mumblings  and  sibilant  sounds  may 
well  be  the  language  of  intangible  and  hideous  furies  in 
the  bowels  of  the  earth. 

Do  you  wish  to  touch  with  your  cane  the  surface  of  a 
small  lake  that  is  not  in  ebullition  ?  Then  come  with  me 
to  South  Lake.  We  clamber  over  bowlders  and  slabs  of 
lava  that  not  many  weeks  ago  were  a  seething  mass,  and 
the  hot  air  seems  hotter  and  the  way  more  hazardous 
when  suddenly  we  find  ourselves  at  the  edge  of  an  omi- 
nously quiet  pond  of  lava,  whose  surface  trembles  and 
whose  edges  show  the  highly-heated,  orange-colored 
liquid  glowing  underneath.  We  watch  with  fascination 
those  peculiar  palpitations  and  quiverings  so  characteristic 
of  viscid  bodies  at  high  temperature.  The  white  heat 
below  that  thin  crust  is  little  less  than  3000°  Fahrenheit, 
and  yet  such  an  excellent  non-conductor  is  the  congealed 
surface  that,  although  almost  beaten  back  by  the  heat,  we 


2  14         VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA    FLOWS. 

actually  press  that  surface  with  our  canes,  holding  our  hats 
before  our  faces. 

REMARKABLE  DISAPPEARANCE  OF  FIRES.  The 
great  lake  of  Halemaumau  has  been  in  constant  action  for 
ages,  and  is  still  the  largest  active  volcano  in  the  world. 
But  in  March,  1886,  the  fires  in  that  ancient  caldron  totally 
disappeared,  and  the  immediate  vicinity  sank  to  a  depth 
of  nearly  six  hundred  feet.  As  related  by  Thrum,  in  a 
pamphlet  on  The  Suspended  Activity  of  Kilauea,  "  Dis- 
tant rumbling  noises  were  heard,  accompanied  by  a  series 
of  earthquakes,  forty-three  in  number.  With  the  fourth 
shock,  which  was  quite  severe,  the  brilliancy  of  New  Lake 
disappeared,  and  towards  3  A.  M.  the  fires  in  Halemaumau 
disappeared  also,  leaving  the  whole  crater  in  darkness. 
With  the  dawn  the  shocks  and  noises  ceased,  and  revealed 
the  changes  which  Kilauea  had  undergone  in  the  night. 
All  the  high  cliffs  surrounding  Halemaumau  and  New 
Lake,  which  had  become  a  prominent  feature  in  the  crater, 
had  vanished  entirely,  and  the  molten  lava  of  both  lakes 
had  disappeared  by  some  subterranean  passage  from  the 
bottom  of  Halemaumau.  There  was  no  material  change 
in  the  sunken  portion  of  the  crater  except  a  continual 
falling  in  of  rocks  and  debris  from  its  banks,  as  the 
contraction  from  its  former  intense  heat  loosened  their 
compactness  and  sent  them  hurling  some  200  or  300  feet 
below,  giving  forth  at  times  a  boom  as  of  distant  thunder, 


THE  GREAT  CRATER  OF  KILAUEA.— On  the  island  of  Hawaii  is  {he 
largest  active  volcano  in  the  world.  The  crater  of  Kilauea  is  on  the  slopes  of 
Mauna  Loa,  four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  It  is  nine  miles  in 
circumference,  with  a  depth,  at  present,  of  five  hundred  feet. 


VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS.         217 

followed  by  clouds  of  cinders  and  ashes  shooting  up  into 
*he  air  100  to  300  feet,  proportionate,  doubtless,  to  the  size 
of  the  newly  fallen  mass." 

This  remarkable  recession  of  the  liquid  lava  in  Hale- 
maumau  presented  a  vivid  illustration  of  the  dying  throes 
of  exhausted  volcanoes.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Baker,  probably 
the  most  adventuresome  explorer  of  Hawaiian  volcanoes, 
actually  descended  into  that  crumbling  pit  to  a  point  within 
what  he  judged  to  be  fifty  feet  of  the  bottom.  But  Hale- 
maumau  had  only  taken  an  intermission,  and  in  two  short 
months  signs  of  returning  life  became  frequent  and  un- 
mistakable, and  in  June  culminated  in  the  sudden  out- 
break of  a  lake  that  has  since  then  steadily  increased  in 
activity. 

SULPHUR  DEPOSITS.  The  vicinity  of  Kilauea  is 
marked  by  fissures  and  cracks  and  steamholes  that  have 
been  formed  by  the  violence  of  earthquakes  and  the  per- 
sistent pressure  of  imprisoned  gases.  Over  some  of  these 
fissures  and  holes  deposits  of  sulphur  are  found,  in  one 
instance  forming  an  extensive  bed  that  well  repays  a  visit 
Such  a  visit  impresses  one  with  the  awe  that  steadily 
grows  in  the  presence  of  these  hidden  forces  of  the  earth. 
We  come  to  a  large  bank  or  mound  of  decomposed  sul- 
phur crystals,  between  which  and  a  precipice  of  basalt 
we  pick  our  way,  anon  charmed  at  the  purity  and  beauty 
of  crystals  freshly  formed  at  the  mouths  of  vent-holes. 


2iS         VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS. 

scalded  it  may  be  by  the  steam  that  does  not  congeal,  so 
that  we  can  know  when  to  be  on  our  guard,  and  pro- 
foundly shaken  in  our  confidence  in  things  terrestrial  as 
turning  the  corner  of  a  bowlder  we  hear  unearthly  and 
half-human  gurglings  under  our  feet.  Really  we  seem  to 
be  nearer  the  bottomless  pit  than  when  looking  down 
upon  the  fires  in  Halemaumau,  three  miles  away. 

FROM  CHAOS  TO  PARADISE.  Some  one  has  called 
attention  to  a  remarkable  contrast  that  can  be  seen  at 
Kilauea  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year.  When  the  heavy 
gases  hang  at  night  in  clouds  like  reflectors  over  the  glow- 
ing lakes  of  Kilauea,  clear  and  beautiful  in  the  unclouded 
sky  shines  the  incomparable  Southern  Cross.  As  we  turn 
from  that  great  pit,  a  stronger  contrast  is  close  at  hand. 
Ample  accommodations  in  a  modern-built  hotel  have 
afforded  us  the  comforts  of  easy  beds  and  of  well-spread 
tables,  but  our  eyes  have  looked  out  upon  the  devasta- 
tion and  lurid  lights  of  a  terrible  abyss  from  every  door 
and  window.  We  can  ride  over  a  good  road  in  a  carriage 
from  our  hotel  to  charming  Hilo,  thirty  miles  away,  and  a 
moment's  ride  puts  that 

"  Deep  Hades  of  the  seven  Phlegethons  " 

behind  us  and  completely  out  of  sight,  and  ushers  us 
into  a  new  world  of  luxuriant  tropic  verdure.  We  can  not 
forget  nor  wholly  shut  out  from  our  thoughts  the  scenes 
left  behind,  but  the  memory  of  them  serves  to  enhance 


VOLCANOES   AND    LAVA    FLOWS.         219 

the  enjoyment  of  this  truly  delightful  ride.  Tall  tree-terns 
bend  Denevolently  over  the  ample  roadway,  and  the  fra- 
grance of  the  woods,  and  the  grateful  shade  and  the  occa- 
sional fluttering  of  timid  birds,  and  the  rare  glimpses  of 
Mauna  Kea  and  Mauna  Loa  with  their  cloaks  of  snow, 
render  this  ride  a  memorable  one.  Its  attractiveness  in- 
creases as  the  road  nears  Hilo.  The  last  woods  are  dense 
and  high,  and  there  is  a  truly  tropical  profusion  of  vegeta- 
tion. At  last  Hilo,  with  its  incomparably  beautiful  bay, 
and  its  grand  mountains,  and  its  quiet,  shaded  streets, 
and  its  seclusion  from  the  noisy  world,  welcomes  the  tired 
traveler  to  all  the  blessings  of  an  earthly  Paradise.  After  a 
bath  in  one  of  those  wonderful  Hilo  tubs,  into  which  and 
out  of  which  the  limpid  streams  are  forever  flowing,  you 
seat  yourself  on  the  veranda  in  a  reclining  chair  where 
the  fragrant  odors  of  roses  and  plumerias  suffuse  the  air, 
and  listen  to  the  tales  of  host  and  hostess  about  the 
famous  lava-flows  and  the  earthquake  experiences  of  a 
generation. 

EARTHQUAKES  OF  1868.  This  eruption  was  the 
most  remarkable  and  disastrous  one  in  the  history  of  the 
Islands.  Writes  Alexander,  "On  the  27th  of  March  an 
eruption  began  in  the  summit  crater  of  Mauna  Loa,  at- 
tended by  a  long  series  of  earthquake  shocks.  At  length, 
en  the  2^th  of  April,  a  terriric  earthquake  took  place,  which 
shook  down  every  stone  wall  and  nearly  every  house  in 


220         VOLCANOES   AND   LAVA   FLOWS. 

Kau,  and  did  more  or  less  damage  in  every  part  of  Hawaii. 
Immediately  after  this  earthquake  a  tremendous  wave, 
forty  or  fifty  feet  high,  rolled  in  upon  the  coast  of  Kau, 
sweeping  away  all  the  villages  from  Kaalualu  to  Keau- 
hou,  and  destroying  some  cocoanut  groves.  Over  eighty 
persons  perished  in  a  few  minutes,  and  the  survivors 
were  left  destitute  and  suffering."  In  the  words  of  Mr. 
Coan:  "The  shock  filled  all  Kau,  Hilo  and  Puna  with 
awe  and  consternation.  It  seemed  as  if  the  very  pillars 
and  frame-work  of  creation  would  break.  For  three  min- 
utes, while  it  continued,  I  had  scarcely  a  hope  for  our 
house  or  for  our  town.  One.  woman  was  killed  near  us 
by  a  falling  bank  that  buried  her.  Scores  of  people  escaped 
as  by  a  miracle,  while  the  rocks  were  falling  around  them. 
The  sea  came  in  up  to  Front  Street,  and  threatened  to 
overwhelm  all  along  the  shore.  That  was  a  fearful  night ; 
people  left  their  houses  and  walked  the  streets  or  clus- 
tered under  trees  or  camped  in  the  fields  watching  foi 
the  morning." 

In  the  district  of  Kau  there  were  said  to  have  been 
over  two  thousand  shocks  from  March  28th  to  April  i  ith. 
'*  Earthquakes  are  to  me  more  terrific  than  volcanic  erup- 
tion," writes  Mr.  Coan,  "  because  they  come  so  suddenly, 
giving  no  warning  and  no  time  to  escape,  while  men  may 
usually  walk  deliberately  away  from  a  lava  stream,  taking 
many  of  their  precious  things  with  them."    Eye-witnesses 


VOLCANOES    AND    LAVA   FLOWS.         223 

jf  the  shocks  in  Kau,  where  they  were  most  severely 
felt,  describe  them  as  throwing  persons  from  their  feet, 
and  as  serving  horses  and  other  animals  in  the  same  way. 
Wrote  Mr.  Lyman,  "  First  the  earth  swayed  to  and  fro, 
north  and  south,  then  east  and  west,  round  and  round, 
then  up  and  down  and  in  every  imaginable  direction  for 
several  minutes,  everything  crashing  around  us,  the  trees 
thrashing  about  as  if  torn  by  a  mighty  rushing  wind.  It 
was  impossible  to  stand;  we  had  to  sit  on  the  ground, 
bracing  with  hands  and  feet  to  keep  from  rolling  over." 

LEGEND  OF  HALAI.  It  was  but  natural  that  such 
surroundings  should  develop  among  the  early  aborigines  a 
belief  in  the  malignancy  of  their  gods.  There  are  legends, 
however,  that  show  that  there  were  glimpses  of  a  finer 
spirit  of  beneficent  service  wrought  by  their  deities,  as 
when  "Maui  sprang  upon  the  sun  and  broke  oft  some 
of  his  rays,  so  that  he  was  thereafter  obliged  to  travel  at 
a  slower  pace  through  the  heavens  and  furnish  a  day  of 
sufficient  length  for  kapa  drying  and  other  domestic  cares." 
Back  of  Hilo  are  three  cone  craters  in  a  line  to  the  sea. 
Distressed  by  a  long-continued  drought,  a  Kahuna  an- 
nounced that  some  one  must  offer  himself  as  a  sacrifice 
in  order  to  secure  rain.  One  of  the  most  beloved  prin- 
cesses thereupon  offered  herself  and  was  burned  alive. 
Shortly  afterwards  one  of  these  hills  rose  in  the  place 
where  the  sacrifice  was  made.    "  Our  princess  is  a  god 


224         VOLCANOES    AND    LAVA   FLOWS. 

and  is  walking  to  the  sea  for  water  for  our  land,"  said  the 
people,  as  another  hill  rose  a  little  nearer  the  sea.  Later, 
the  last  hill,  Halai,  came  up,  and  then,  after  patient  waiting 
by  the  expectant  people,  copious  rains  descended  and 
every  one  rejoiced  because  their  deified  princess  had 
reached  the  sea,  and  filled  the  clouds  till  they  burst  with 
welcome  showers. 

HEATHEN  OBLATIONS.  In  1881,  when  the  roar- 
ing river  which  had  threatened  to  overwhelm  beautiful 
Hilo  had  well-nigh  expended  its  energy  and  was  slowly 
spreading  out  but  making  little  progress  forward,  another 
princess,  neither  young  nor  beautiful,  a  woman  of  the 
grossest  physique  and  of  the  densest  mind,  encamped 
with  her  retainers  on  one  of  these  craters  close  to  the  lava 
stream,  and  performed  heathen  rites  to  avert  the  impend- 
ing disaster.  There  was  none  of  the  heroic  in  her  act  or 
in  any  of  the  surroundings.  She  broke  bottles  of  brandy 
on  the  black  lava,  and  made  the  goddess  Pele  presents  of 
silk  handkerchiefs  and  other  trifles,  and  for  two  weeks 
conducted  incantations  on  a  generous  scale.  Shortly  after 
the  lava  ceased  flowing  altogether. 

'  The  legend  of  the  princess  who  sacrificed  herself,  and 
the  act  of  the  princess  whose  superstition  convinced  her 
of  the  efficacy  of  incantations,  were  alike  the  product  of 
infantile  imagination,  as  compared  with  the  grander  con- 
ception of  mighty  forces  working  by  design. 


HAWAIIAN  MONARCHY. 

KAMEHAMEHA'S  ARBITRARY  REIGN.  Kame- 
hameha  I.  was  a  conqueror,  subjugating  everything  to  his 
personal  will.  So  long  as  he  lived,  his  iron  will  and  mas- 
terful spirit  prevailed  over  all  opposition.  He  was,  more- 
over, possessed  of  statesmanlike  qualities.  He  saw  the 
need  of  buttressing  the  newly  organized  monarchy,  and 
so  insisted  on  all  the  minute  requirements  of  the  tabu 
system  relative  to  the  sacredness  of  the  king's  person. 
He  likewise  made  himself  supreme  by  claiming  personal 
ownership  of  all  the  land,  which  he  dextrously  assigned 
to  his  favorite  chiefs,  to  hold  at  his  pleasure,  thus  attach- 
ing them  to  his  cause.  He  moreover  made  it  well-nigh 
impossible  for  ambitious  chiefs  to  establish  themselves  in 
successful  opposition  to  his  rule  by  assigning  each  chief 
land,  not  in  one  district  but  in  several,  thus  avoiding  con- 
centration of  power  in  the  hands  of  any  but  himself.  He 
shrewdly  retained  about  his  person  those  chiefs  whom 
he  distrusted,  limiting  thus  their  temptation  to  sedition. 
He  was  an  arbitrary  ruler,  strong,  sagacious,  alert,  but  a 
thorough  pagan  and  a  believer  in  the  sacredness  of  kings. 
He  came  to  his  supreme  control  through  conflict  and  the 
disastrous  rout  of  his  foes,  organizing  order  and  respect 

225 


2  26  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

for  authority  in  the  midst  of  confusion  and  internecine 
warfare ;  but,  while  his  conquest  brought  peace  to  a  war- 
scourged  land,  it  introduced  no  new  privileges  for  the 
common  people,  but  bound  them  rather  in  closer  sub- 
serviency to  king  and  chiefs  and  priests.  There  was  one 
ruler  instead  of  many,  but  not  the  slightest  exemption  for 
the  people  from  the  burdens  of  an  irksome  serfdom. 

REACTION  SETS  IN.  When  the  strong  hand  of 
Kamehameha  unloosed  its  grasp,  it  mattered  little  who 
came  after  him.  He  incarnated  in  himself  the  oppressive 
system  that  had  exhausted  itself  in  its  excesses,  and  when 
he  closed  his  eyes  in  death  the  spell  was  broken,  and  the 
nation  broke  away  from  all  arbitrary  restraints.  Kame- 
hameha's  son  no  sooner  found  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
nation  than  he  threw  the  weight  of  his  example  into  the 
scales  against  a  perpetuation  of  the  tabu  system.  Kame- 
hameha's  two  queens  urged  the  son  on  to  the  course  that 
proved  popular  even  among  the  priests  of  the  old  order, 
and  forthwith  the  nation  swung  out  from  under  the  irk- 
some restraints  of  organized  heathenism  into  the  utmost 
license  of  personal  depravity  regardless  of  all  conse- 
quences. This  was  an  opportune  moment  for  the  intro- 
duction of  the  new  forces,  individual  and  social,  that  came 
with  the  Gospel  missionaries.  But  it  was  a  fatal  blow  to 
centralized  and  organized  authority.  A  less  violent  transi- 
tion would  have  conserved  the  interests  of  the  monarchy. 


i 


lOLANI  PALACE. — One  of  the  most  conspicuous  buildings  of  Honolulu  is  the 
lolani  Palace,  the  former  residence  of  the  ruler  of  Hawaii,  now  used  by  the  present 
government.  It  is  of  pretty,  modest  architecture,  built  of  brick  and  covered  with 
cement.  It  stands  in  spacious  grounds,  filled  with  many  varieties  of  palms  and 
other  tropical  foliage. 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  229 

Although  the  king  himself  was  the  apostle  and  guide  into 
the  lawlessness  and  dissipation  that  ensued,  his  course 
was  in  effect  a  blow  at  the  political  prestige  of  the  mon- 
archy. Henceforth  there  was  to  be  constant  pressure  for 
larger  privileges,  a  pressure  that  even  the  throne  could  not 
ignore  without  further  loss  of  prestige  and  of  power. 

GROWTH  OF  POLITICAL  PRIVILEGE.  The  cen- 
tury from  179^,  when  Kamehameha  acquired  by  conquest 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Islands,  to  1893,  when  the  mon- 
archy in  the  person  of  Liliuokalani  collapsed  by  its  -  own 
act,  marks  a  gradual  growth  of  political  privilege  accom- 
panied by  futile  attempts  to  retain  royal  prerogatives,  and 
in  some  instances  to  regain  what  had  been  lost.  The 
century,  however,  is  also  marked  by  voluntary  conces- 
sions from  the  throne  that  indicated  wise  statesmanship 
and  a  liberal  and  progressive  spirit,  notably  in  the  career 
of  Kamehameha  III.  For  twenty-four  years  Kamehameha 
the  Great  held  the  nation  as  in  a  vise.  His  son,  during  a 
short  reign  of  five  years,  by  his  dissipation  and  weak- 
ness, encouraged  turbulence  and  a  rebellious  spirit.  The 
accession  of  Kauikeaouli,  the  second  son  of  Kamehameha, 
ushered  in  a  reign  that  proved  in  many  respects  the  most 
beneficent  in  Hawaiian  history.  Great  credit  must  be 
accorded  this  enlightened  prince  for  so  heartily  recognizing 
the  principle  of  popular  rights.  He  might  have  obstructed 
and  delayed  the  emancipation  of  his  people,  but  with  his 


2r,o 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 


large  resources  as  a  natural  leader  he  chose  to  promote 
the  condition  of  the  common  people,  ihe  indirect  in- 
fluence of  Gospel  teaching  induced  conditions  that  he  was 
wise  to  improve,  but  which  would  have  brought  about 
inevitably  the  same  results  without  his  aid,  albeit  not  so 
rapidly  and  peaceably. 

BASIS  OF  POLITICAL  UNREST.  It  was  during  the 
reign  of  Kamehameha  III.  that  the  great  religious  awak- 
ening occurred.  From  the  terrorism  of  the  ancient  tabu 
system,  the  common  people  came  out  into  the  light  and 
liberty  of  a  Christian  civilization.  The  profound  influence 
exerted  upon  the  emancipated  people  'by  the  stimulus  of 
new  ideas  and  by  personal  contact  with  the  remarkable 
men  forming  the  American  mission,  can  not  be  overesti- 
mated as  affording  the  basis  for  political  advancement. 
Schools  sprang  up  all  over  the  nation.  Books  were  scat- 
tered among  the  people.  Brought  face  to  face  with  the 
great  and  uplifting  truths  of  the  Christian  religion,  the 
common  people  were  taught  to  think,  and  encouraged  to 
decide  and  act  and  helped  to  bear  responsibilities.  Politi-  ■ 
cal  advancement  has  more  than  once  in  history  been  built 
up  on  the  basis  of  religious  progress  and  enlightenment. 
The  marvellous  changes  wrought  in  the  nation  under 
Kamehameha  III.  are  inexplicable  except  as  the  religious 
awakening  and  the  consequent  intellectual  and  moral  de- 
velopment of  the  people  furnish  the  basis.    The  king  was 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  231 

affected  by  the  apparent  readiness  of  the  common  people 
for  a  more  progressive  government,  as  he  was  also  con- 
strained by  the  social  and  industrial  necessity  of  a  read- 
justment in  the  ownership  of  land.  He  was  in  touch 
with  his  times,  and  his  reign,  the  longest  of  any  Hawaiian 
monarch,  covering  a  period  of  twenty-nine  years,  was  the 
golden  era  of  the  Hawaiian  race. 

THE  FIRST  CONSTITUTION.  Though  the  first  Ha- 
waiian Constitution  was  the  free  gift  of  Kamehameha  III. 
to  his  people,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  he  was  aided  in  its 
drafting  by  graduates  of  the  highest  school  in  the  nation, 
whose  acquired  ideas  of  government  had  marked  influence 
in  shaping  that  instrument.  The  king  thus  conceded  to 
his  subjects  at  the  outset  a  share  in  formulating  the  funda- 
mental law  of  the  land.  By  this  constitution  a  legislative 
branch  of  the  government  was  constituted,  consisting  of 
fifteen  hereditary  nobles  and  seven  representatives,  elected 
by  the  people.  For  the  first  time,  Hawaiian  subjects  were 
thus  accorded  a  legitimate  participation  in  the  govern- 
ment. The  granting  of  this  constitution  naturally  led  to 
legislation  improving  the  condition  of  the  people,  and 
equalizing  the  burdens  of  taxation.  Thus  all  arbitrary 
taxes  and  all  arbitrary  forced  labor  were  done  away  with, 
and  the  right  of  individuals  distinctly  outlined.  The  spirit 
of  this  constitution  may  be  inferred  from  the  follow- 
ing quotation :  "  Protection  is  hereby  assured  to  the  per- 


232  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

sons  of  all  the  people,  together  with  their  lands,  their 
building  lots,  and  all  their  property,  while  they  conform 
to  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and  nothing  whatever  shall 
be  taken  from  any  individual  except  by  express  provision 
of  the  law."  That  the  mass  of  the  people  did  not  com- 
prehend the  importance  of  this  concession  made  it  none 
the  less  a  remarkable  advance  in  popular  rights,  laying  the 
foundations  for  subsequent  concessions  of  even  greater 
political  privilege.  Whatever  its  effect  on  the  monarchy, 
it  was  a  wise  and  patriotic  measure. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  18^2.  The  constitution  of  1840 
came  directly  from  the  king  as  a  gratuitous  grant  to  his 
people.  Twelve  years  of  constitutional  government,  albeit 
crudely  organized  and  administered,  was  like  an  era  of 
education  to  the  people  in  the  rights  and  privilges  of  citi- 
zenship, and  so,  when  steps  were  taken  in  18^2  to  draft 
a  new  and  better  constitution,  we  are  hardly  surprised  to 
note  that  it  was  the  legislature  that  provided  for  a  com- 
mission for  that  purpose.  We  are  not  surprised  greatly  to 
note  also  that  in  this  commission  the  king,  the  nobles,  and 
the  representatives  were  each  given  a  voice,  being  each 
represented  by  a  commission  of  their  own.  The  nature 
of  this  constitution  likewise  shows  the  prodigious  strides 
taken  in  constitutional  privilege.  In  two  important  par- 
ticulars the  constitution  of  i8p  was  a  great  advance  on 
that  of   1840.     The  representatives  were  increased  in 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  233 

number,  and  were  allowed  the  privilege  of  sitting  in  a 
separate  house,  with  their  own  parliamentary  organiza- 
tion. The  adoption  of  this  constitution  by  nobles  and 
representatives,  and  its  signature  by  the  king,  fairly  inau- 
gurated a  liberal  constitutional  government  under  auspi- 
cious conditions.  Thus  far  we  have  sound  political 
evolution  without  any  of  the  conflicts  and  antagonisms 
that  have  elsewhere  marked  the  progress  of  constitutional 
government.  But  the  basis  had  been  laid  for  friction  that 
was  sure  to  follow  under  less  progressive  and  patriotic 
monarchs. 

PERILS  FROM  WITHOUT.  It  was  during  the  reign 
of  Kamehameha  III.  that  the  nation  passed  through  the 
strain  of  foreign  interference  which,  on  several  occa- 
sions, endangered  the  autonomy  of  Hawaii.  It  was 
fortunate  that  the  king  was  patriotic  and  discreet,  for  a 
headstrong  or  a  vacillating  or  a  cowardly  ruler,  in  spite 
of  shrewd  and  weighty  counsel,  would  have  precipitated 
the  downfall  of  the  monarchy  and  wrecked  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  nation.  This  foreign  interference  had  its  real 
source  in  the  mutual  jealousies  of  France  and  England, 
both  nations  being  busily  engaged  in  acquiring  new  pos- 
sessions in  the  Pacific.  Both  nations  were  undoubtedly 
encouraged  in  their  encroachments  by  the  absence,  at  that 
time,  of  any  pronounced  policy  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  toward  those  islands.    The  practical  failure  of  either 


234  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

nation  to  impair  the  sovereignty  of  Hawaii  was  due 
mainly  to  the  helpful  counsel  and  service  of  foreign  resi- 
dents, and  to  the  timely  recognition  by  the  United  States 
of  the  autonomy  of  Hawaii  and  of  its  purpose  to  sustain 
that  autonomy. 

FRENCH  AGGRESSIONS.  The  ostensible  reason  for 
French  interference  in  the  government  of  Hawaii  was  the 
protection  of  French  residents  in  the  enjoyment  of  reli- 
gious privileges.  The  king  and  the  chiefs  in  1837  "issued 
a  severe  ordinance  rejecting  the  Catholic  religion,  which 
forbade  the  teaching  of  that  religion,  or  the  landing  of  any 
teacher  of  it  except  in  cases  of  necessity."  This  position, 
however,  under  the  pressure  of  better  counsels  from  Pro- 
testant missionaries  and  others,  was  abandoned  and  an 
edict  of  toleration  was  issued  June  17,  1839.  On  July  9, 
1839,  the  French  frigate  Artemise,  Capt.  Laplace,  arrived 
at  Honolulu,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  an  end  "to  the 
ill-treatment  to  which  the  French  have  been  victims  at 
the  Sandwich  Islands."  Without  making  any  investiga- 
tion, Laplace  formulated  several  demands,  exacting  the 
immediate  payment  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  as  a  guar- 
antee of  future  good  conduct  towards  France.  *'  If  the 
king  and  chiefs  refuse  to  sign  the  treaty  I  present,  war 
will  immediately  commence,  and  all  the  devastations 
and  calamities  which  may  result  shall  be  imputed  to 
them  alone."    Foreign  residents  came  to  the  aid  of  the 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  235 

government  in  loaning  money  to  meet  this  demand.  Tliat 
the  ostensible  reason  for  these  demands  was  not  the  real 
one  appears  in  the  fact  that  Laplace,  two  days  afterwards, 
insisted  on  the  unconditional  signing  of  a  new  treaty 
affording  French  residents  privileges  not  accorded  to  other 
foreign  residents.  Three  years  later  similar  demands  were 
formulated  by  Capt.  Mallet,  of  the  French  corvette  Em- 
buscade.  "The  king  made  a  courteous  and  dignified 
reply,"  writes  Alexander,  "  assuring  Capt.  Mallet  that  com- 
plete religious  toleration  was  secured  by  the  constitution 
and  laws  of  his  kingdom,  and  that  if  there  had  been  any 
instances  of  abuse,  they  were  not  authorized  by  the  gov- 
ernment, and  that  the  courts  of  justice  were  open  to  all, 
and  would  afford  redress  if  appealed  to.  In  conclusion, 
he  informed  Capt.  Mallet  that  an  embassy  had  been  sent 
to  France  to  ask  for  a  new  treaty."  Seven  years  later 
Admiral  De  Tromelin  submitted  ten  demands,  the  king 
at  once  responding,  "  that  the  courts  of  the  kingdom  were 
open  for  the  redress  of  all  grievances,  and  that  until  justice 
had  been  denied  by  them  there  could  be  no  occasion  for 
diplomatic  interference."  The  French  Admiral  immediately 
took  possession  of  the  fort,  dismantling  it,  confiscating  all 
the  shipping  and  destroying  everything  in  the  governor's 
house.  This  French  occupation  lasted  for  ten  days, 
after  which  the  admiral  sailed  away.  Two  years  later 
the  French  Commissioner  again  presented  the  same  tea 


2^.6  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 


■o 


demands.  This  led  to  the  preparation  of  a  proclamation 
by  the  king,  from  which  we  quote :  "  Finding  our  rela- 
tions with  France  so  oppressive  to  my  kingdom,  so  incon- 
sistent with  its  rights  as  an  independent  state,  and  so 
obstructive  of  all  our  endeavors  to  administer  the  govern- 
ment of  our  islands  with  equal  justice  with  all  nations 
and  equal  independence  of  all  foreign  control,  and  des- 
pairing of  equity  and  justice  from  France,  hereby  proclaim 
as  our  royal  will  and  pleasure  that  all  our  islands  and  ali 
our  rights  as  sovereign  over  them  are  from  date  hereof 
placed  under  the  protection  and  safeguard  of  the  United 
States  of  America  until  some  arrangement  can  be  made 
to  place  our  said  relations  with  France  upon  a  footing 
compatible  with  my  rights  as  an  independent  sovereign 
under  the  laws  of  nations  and  compatible  with  my  treaty 
engagements  with  other  foreign  nations;  or,  if  such  ar- 
rangements be  found  impracticable,  then  is  our  wish  and 
pleasure  that  the  protection  aforesaid  under  the  United 
States  of  America  be  perpetual."  The  knowledge  that  this 
proclamation  was  drawn  up,  and  waiting  only  the  inser- 
tion of  the  date  to  make  it  operative,  led  to  the  with- 
drawal of  the  French  demands,  which  have  never  since 
been  presented. 

ENGLISH  AGGRESSIONS.  The  ostensible  reason 
for  English  interference  was  to  secure  the  protection  of 
English  residents  in  certain  land-claims,  which,  with  a 


i 


PRINCESS  KaIULANI.— She  is  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Cleghorn,  a  Scotchman,  who 
has  resided  in  Honolulu  for  many  years,  and  Like-Like,  a  sister  of  the  ex-Queeii 
Liliuokalani.  Like-Like  died  in  18S7.  She  was  appointed  heir  apparent  to  the 
throne  of  Hawaii  by  Liliuokalani  in  1891. 


HAWAIIAN   MONARCHY.  239 

single  exception,  were  afterward  acknowledged  to  be  un- 
just. On  February  10,  1843,  the  British  frigate  Carysfort, 
commanded  by  Lord  George  Paulet,  arrived  at  Honolulu. 
Lord  Paulet,  a  few  days  after,  sent  peremptory  demands 
accompanied  by  the  threat  that  if  they  were  not  immedi- 
ately complied  with,  "  coercive  steps  would  follow."  The 
King  responded  that  ambassadors  had  been  sent  to  Eng- 
land with  full  power  to  settle  ail  difficulties,  but  that  he 
would  comply  with  the  demands  made  until  the  British 
government  should  be  heard  from.  Subsequent  pressure 
from  Lord  Paulet  convinced  the  King  that  the  seizure  of 
the  Islands  was  intended,  and  he  accordingly  ceded  them 
temporarily,  pending  an  appeal  to  the  British  government. 
Just  forty-nine  years  after  the  cession  to  Vancouver,  the 
British  colors  were  again  hoisted,  and  a  British  Commis- 
sion assumed  control  of  the  government.  This  continued 
for  five  months,  until  the  arrival  of  Admiral  Thomas,  who 
disavowed  the  seizure  of  the  Islands  by  Paulet,  and  on 
July  31st  restored  again  the  Hawaiian  flag,  causing  the 
British  men-of-war  to  salute  it  with  twenty-one  guns. 

REAL  INTENT  OF  FOREIGN  INTERFERENCE. 
Writing  in  1873,  Hon.  S.  N.  Castle,  a  man  long  in  confiden- 
tial relations  with  the  different  sovereigns,  and  on  intimate 
terms  with  foreign  representatives  at  Honolulu,  said,  "  It 
has  been  stated  to  the  writer  that  Capt.  Laplace,  in  1839, 
did  not  expect  that  the  ^20,000  demanded  by  him  could 


240  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

be  raised,  and  that  in  failure  thereof  he  would  take  posses- 
sion, as  he  had  just  done  at  Tahiti.  Such  is  also  believed 
to  have  been  the  intention  of  Capt.  Mallet  in  1842.  The 
occupation  by  the  British  in  1843  was  to  anticipate  French 
occupation,  which  they  believed  to  have  been  determined 
upon,  as  was  stated  by  one  of  the  British  Commissioners 
to  the  writer  at  the  time.  That  occupation,  however, 
having  taken  place,  would  have  continued,  as  stated  by 
Lord  Aberdeen  to  Mr.  Richards,  if  the  Admiral  had  not 
already  restored  the  flag.  And  it  is  stated  that  the  Admiral 
was  moved  to  do  this  when  he  did,  because  Lord  Paulet 
did  not  send  his  despatches  to  him  as  he  should  have 
done,  but  sent  them  directly  to  the  foreign  office." 

Edward  Everett,  then  American  Minister  to  England, 
wrote  from  London  to  the  State  Department,  August  i^, 
1843,  "Had  France  got  possession  of  the  islands,  she 
would  certainly  have  retained  them.  Had  intelligence  been 
received  here  of  Lord  George  Paulet's  occupation  of  them 
before  the  promise  was  given  to  recognize  them,  England, 
I  think,  would  not  have  given  them  up." 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  Commodore  Kearney,  of  the 
United  States  frigate  Constellation,  arriving  at  Honolulu  on 
the  6th  of  July,  issued  a  protest  against  the  cession,  and 
when  his  vessel  was  visited  by  Governor  Kekuanaoa  and 
the  young  chiefs,  he  saluted  them  under  the  Hawaiian 
flag,  thus  greatly  irritating  Lord  Paulet.     It  is  also  worthy 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  241 

of  record  that  Dr.  Judd,  the  King's  confidential  counsellor, 
fearing  the  seizure  of  the  royal  archives,  secretly  removed 
them  to  the  royal  tomb,  where,  in  the  words  of  Jarves, 
"surrounded  by  the  former  sovereigns  of  Hawaii,  and 
using  the  coffin  of  Kaahumanu  for  a  table,  for  many  weeks 
he  nightly  found  an  unsuspected  asylum  for  his  labors  in 
behalf  of  the  Kingdom." 

EFFECT  OF  FOREIGN  INTERFERENCE.  The 
French  and  English  aggressions,  covering  a  period  of  twelve 
years,  and  terminating  only  about  three  years  before  the 
death  of  Kamehameha  III.,  led  to  three  distinct  results 
affecting  the  future  of  Hawaii.  In  the  first  place,  the  na- 
tion recognized  its  inability  to  cope  with  serious  difficulties 
without  the  advice  and  aid  of  its  foreign  residents.  To 
these  men  largely  belongs  the  credit  of  preserving  the 
monarchy  and  of  maintaining  the  autonomy  of  Hawaii. 
But,  in  the  second  place,  it  is  clear  that  in  spite  of  the 
effective  service  rendered  by  these  men,  Hawaii  demon- 
strated its  inability  to  maintain  its  national  existence  inde- 
pendent of  the  protection  of  some  strong  foreign  power. 
In  the  light  of  these  events,  Hawaiian  independence  was 
a  figment,  and  men  came  to  realize  this  both  in  Hawaii 
and  in  the  United  States.  In  the  third  place,  the  king 
became  discouraged  on  account  of  the  demands  made 
upon  him  by  foreign  powers,  and  himself  became  an  ad- 
vocate of  annexation  to  the  United  States  as  a  solution  of 


242  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

all  governmental  difficulties.  During  his  reign  his  people 
had  decreased  in  number  fifty  per  cent.  This  discouraging 
fact,  added  to  the  perils  threatening  the  national  existence, 
brought  many  to  look  forward  to  annexation  as  inevitable 
and  to  be  desired. 

We  have  elsewhere  spoken  of  the  broad-minded 
statesmanship  of  Kamehameha  III.  in  granting  homesteads 
to  the  common  people.  In  every  way  he  contributed  to 
the  political  and  industrial  advancement  of  his  people,  and 
deserves  honor  above  all  the  sovereigns  of  Hawaii,  not 
even  excepting  the  great  Kamehameha  himself.  In  the 
early  years  of  his  reign  he  was  dissipated,  but  later  he 
recovered  himself  and  wrought  wisely  for  his  people. 
Oppressed  by  the  decadence  of  the  race,  and  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  chiefs  and  the  perplexities  of  government,  he 
relapsed  into  the  excesses  of  his  youth  and  died  amid  the 
universal  mourning  of  the  nation. 

RETURN  TO  AUTOCRATIC  RULE.  The  close  of  the 
brief  and  uneventful  reign  of  Kamehameha  IV.  ushered  in 
the  sway  of  the  imperious  and  self-willed  Kamehameha  V., 
the  last  of  the  Kamehameha  dynasty.  Writes  Alexander, 
"  He  had  inherited  somewhat  of  the  first  Kamehameha's 
strength  of  will  and  practical  shrewdness,  and  had  shown 
considerable  administrative  ability  as  Minister  of  the  Inte- 
rior during  the  previous  reign.  He  had  been  opposed  to 
some  of  the  liberal  reforms  of  Kamehameha  III.'s  reign, 


PAPAIA  TREE— The  tall  straight  stem  of  the  Papaia  runs  up  to  a  height  trom  twenty 
to  thirty  feet,  its  small,  greenish  white  flowers  are  hardly  noticeable  amongst  the  green 
foliage.  At  the  base  of  the  long-stemmed  leaf  is  the  fruit,  in  all  stages  of  develop- 
ment. The  Papaia  when  ripe  looks  much  like  a  small  vellow  pumpkin,  with  the 
flavor  of  this  vegetable  blended  with  that  of  a  musk  melon. 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  245 

believing  that  his  countrymen  were  not  yet  fitted  to  enjoy 
such  privileges.  His  reign  was  marked  by  bitter  party 
contests.  It  was  his  policy  to  place  able  men  who  were 
in  sympathy  with  his  views  at  the  head  of  affairs,  and  to 
give  them  a  steady  support." 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  man  that  he  began  his  reign 
by  refusing  to  take  the  oath  to  support  the  constitution. 
That  product  of  Kamehameha  Ili.'s  liberal  statesmanship 
had  never  commended  itself  to  the  new  king  and  he  used 
the  first  opportunity  to  modify  its  provisions,  hitting  upon 
the  device  of  a  constitutional  convention,  elected  by  the 
people.  Unwilling  to  ignore  the  suffrage  rights  of  the 
people,  perhaps,  because  he  feared  the  antagonisms  that 
would  thus  be  awakened,  perhaps,  because  he  felt  con- 
fident that  he  could  employ  to  his  own  advantage  the  an- 
cient reverence  for  chiefs,  he  shrewdly  undertook  to  gain 
his  point  at  the  ballot-box,  and  so  went  among  the  people 
'Electioneering,  explaining  and  defending  the  changes  he 
wished  to  make  in  the  constitution. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  1864.  "The  convention  met 
July  7,  1864,  being  composed  of  sixteen  nobles  and 
twenty-seven  elected  delegates,  presided  over  by  the  king 
in  person.  After  a  week's  debate  it  was  decided  that  *  the 
three  estates'  should  sit  together  in  one  chamber.  The 
next  question  was  whether  the  convention  had  the  right 
to  proceed  to  make  a  new  constitution,  which  was  finally 


246  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

decided  in  the  affirmative.  After  a  long  discussion  on  the 
proposed  property  qualification  for  voters,  the  king's 
patience  broke  down,  and  on  the  13th  of  August,  1864, 
he  declared  the  constitution  of  1852  abrogated,  and  pro- 
rogued the  convention."  The  people  submitted  with  as 
good  grace  as  possible,  but  a  similar  usurpation  of  extra- 
constitutional  power,  thirty  years  later,  accomplished  the 
downfall  of  the  monarchy.  Kamehameha  V.  set  the  gait 
for  those  who  were  to  follow  him  in  breaking  down  the 
prestige  and  power  of  the  throne  by  resorting  to  reac- 
tionary and  arbitrary  measures.  Just  one  week  after  the 
prorogation  of  the  convention,  the  king,  on  his  own 
authority,  promulgated  a  constitution  in  accordance  with 
his  ideas.  That  constitution  remained  in  force  until  the 
encroachments  of  Kalakaua,  under  cover  of  its  authority, 
induced  a  popular  uprising  that  resulted  in  the  compul- 
sory promulgation  of  the  liberal  constitution  of  1887. 

SEGREGATION  OF  LEPERS.  The  imperious  rule 
of  Kamehameha  V.  was  not  without  beneficial  effects. 
Leprosy  first  made  its  appearance  in  1853,  but  it  had 
spread  to  such  an  extent  in  1864  that  segregation  became 
necessary  for  the  public  safety.  It  is  doubtful  whether 
a  weaker  or  less  autocratic  king  could  have  successfully 
put  into  operation  the  laws  necessitated  by  rigid  segrega- 
tion of  the  lepers.  Segregation  never  has  had  popular 
approval.    The  opposition  to  it  under  Kalakaua  made  it 


I 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  247 

politic  for  him  to  adopt  a  less  vigorous  policy  and  to  ignore 
its  requirements.  Kamehameha  V.,  however,  was  auto- 
crat enough  to  carry  through  any  measure  that  met  his 
approval.  He  saw  the  wisdom  of  restricting  the  dread 
disease  and  so  ordered  it  to  be  done.  This  was  a  vast 
benefit  to  the  nation,  though  later  the  political  necessities 
of  Kalakaua  made  the  policy  well-nigh  inoperative.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  after  his  reign  a  policy  of  segregation 
could  have  been  successfully  instituted  up  to  the  present 
time,  so  unpopular  has  the  policy  always  been.  While  we 
recognize  his  wisdom,  and  congratulate  Hawaii  on  this  act 
of  personal  autocracy  to  which  he  was  urged  by  foreign 
counsel,  we  are  not  blind  to  the  effect  of  that  action  in  pit- 
ting the  people  against  the  throne,  and  in  thus  hastening 
the  downfall  of  the  monarchy.  Great  good  was  accom- 
plished by  Kamehameha  V.'s  course  in  this  delicate  duty, 
but  among  his  unthinking  and  impressionable  subjects  that 
course  was  obnoxious  and  counted  as  an  active  factor  in 
lessening  loyalty  to  the  crown. 

ANNEXATION  SENTIMENT.  The  action  of  Kame- 
hameha III.  in  taking  steps  at  the  close  of  his  reign  for 
the  annexation  of  the  Islands  to  the  United  States  was  the 
initial  point  in  a  discussion  of  this  question  throughout 
the  reign  of  Kamehameha  V.  There  were  advocates  of 
a  reciprocity  treaty  between  the  two  countries,  but  there 
was  a  strong  sentiment  favorable  to  annexation.    There 


248  HAWAIIAN    MONARCMY. 

was  marked  opposition  both  in  Hawaii  and  in  the  United 
States  Senate  to  a  treaty  of  reciprocity  on  the  score  that  it 
would  operate  against  the  annexation  of  the  Islands,  which 
was  deemed  more  desirable.  Wrote  Secretary  Seward  to 
the  American  Minister  at  Honolulu,  September  12,  1867: 
"Circumstances  have  transpired  here  which  induce  the 
belief  that  a  strong  interest,  based  upon  a  desire  for 
annexation  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  will  be  active  in 
opposing  a  ratification  of  the  reciprocity  treaty.  It  will  be 
argued  that  the  reciprocity  will  tend  to  hinder  and  defeat 
an  early  annexation,  to  which  the  people  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands  are  supposed  to  be  now  strongly  inclined.  It  is 
proper  that  you  should  know  that  a  lawful  and  peaceful 
annexation  of  the  islands  to  the  United  States,  with  the 
consent  of  the  people  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  is  deemed 
desirable  by  this  government;  and  that  if  the  policy  of 
annexation  should  really  conflict  with  the  policy  of  reci- 
procity, annexation  is  in  every  case  to  be  preferred."  The 
sentiment  favorable  to  annexation  here  referred  to,  is 
again  mentioned  in  Minister  Pierce's  letter  to  Secretary 
Hamilton  Fish,  February  17,  1873,  two  months  after  the 
death  of  Kamehameha  V.:  "Annexation  of  these  islands 
to  the  United  States,  and  a  reciprocity  treaty  between  the 
two  countries  are  two  important  topics  of  conversation 
and  warm  discussion  among  government  officials  and 
foreign  residents." 


TREE  FERNS.— The  "Tree  Fern"  vies  o/ith  the  pahn  i.i  iAT::ce  aiu  leaut}'. 
Nothing  can  be  more  exquisite  than  a  grove  of  tliese  trees,  with  their  long  feath- 
ery fronds  shading  from  the  darkest  to  the  most  delicate  green.  The  rough  brown 
trunk  is  nearl\  always  covered  with  many  small  varieties  of  ferns. 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  251 

The  occasion  of  this  agitation  was  the  rapidly-grow- 
ing conviction  that  in  the  near  future  Hawaii  must,  from 
sheer  inability,  abandon  its  pretensions  to  an  independent 
national  existence  and  seek  alliance  with  some  strong 
nation.  The  last  of  the  Kamehamehas  was  on  the  throne. 
No  successor  had  been  named  by  him.  The  order  of 
high  chiefs  was  about  extinct.  Changed  social  and  indus- 
trial conditions  were  fast  introducing  new  elements  in  the 
population.  The  native  race  was  fast  disappearing.  The 
political  evolution  that  had  been  proceeding  so  rapidly 
under  Kamehameha  III.  had  been  brought  to  an  abrupt 
halt  by  a  single  autocratic  will,  and  no  one  knew  what 
would  follow  his  demise.  There  was  ground  for  fore- 
boding that  good  government  was  about  to  be  jeopardized. 
Even  the  king  on  his  death-bed  exclaimed :  "  What  is  to 
become  of  my  poor  country  I  There  is  no  one  to  follow 
me.  Queen  Emma  I  do  not  trust;  Lunalilo  is  a  drunkard; 
and  Kalakaua  is  a  fool."  Is  it  surprising  that  intelligent 
Hawaiians  as  well  as  foreign  residents  of  all  nationalities 
have  foreseen  the  downfall  of  the  monarchy,  and  have 
been  casting  about  for  forty  years  for  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  government  that  most  men  saw  was  inevi- 
tably being  thrust  upon  the  nation  ?  Is  it  surprising  that 
the  best  citizens  have  uniformly  recognized  that  an  alli- 
ance with  the  United  States  was  the  manifest  destiny  of 
Hawaii  ?  " 


2^2 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 


ELECTIVE  KINGS.  From  feudal  chiefs  with  abso- 
lute power  over  the  bodies  of  landless  commoners,  to 
monarchs  elected  by  modern  political  methods,  was  cer- 
tainly a  remarkable  transformation  in  little  more  than  a 
generation.  One  week  after  the  king's  death,  Lunalilo, 
one  of  the  highest  of  surviving  chiefs,  appealed  to  the 
people  in  the  approaching  election  to  vote  for  members  of 
the  Legislature  who  should  be  instructed  to  elect  him  king. 
His  rival,  Kalakaua,  likewise  issued  manifestoes  of  the 
most  obsequious  tenor,  for  the  first  time  injecting  into  the 
elections  the  element  of  race  hatred.  He  promised,  if 
elected,  to  repeal  the  poll-tax,  and  to  put  native  Hawaiians 
into  the  government  offices.  "  Beware  of  the  constitution 
of  i8p  and  the  false  teaching  of  the  foreigners."  A  wave 
of  popular  enthusiasm  for  **the  people's  king"  resulted 
in  the  well-nigh  unanimous  election  of  Lunalilo  to  the 
throne,  much  to  the  discomfiture  of  Kalakaua,  who  forth- 
with sought  to  foster  popular  discontent  at  every  oppor- 
tunity. To  gain  popularity,  he  fell  in  with  the  general 
disapproval  of  the  segregation  policy  and  of  the  proposed 
cession  of  Pearl  River  Harbor  to  the  United  States.  He 
was  supposed  to  have  fomented  the  mutiny  among  the 
household  troops,  which  Lunalilo  with  difficulty  sup- 
pressed. After  a  year's  brief  reign,  marked  by  popular 
agitation  that  greatly  weakened  the  government  and  en- 
couraged political  confusion,  Lunalilo  died  and  Kalakaua 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  253 

was  duly  elected  his  successor.  It  was  charged,  and  gen- 
erally believed,  that  he  was  elected  by  the  use  of  bribes. 
KALAKAUA  UNPOPULAR.  As  soon  as  it  was 
known  that  the  Legislature  had  elected  Kalakaua  to  the 
throne,  a  large  mob  of  natives  besieged  the  court-house 
and  assaulted  the  members.  The  mob  was  dispersed  by 
United  States  troops  from  two  men-of-war  in  the  har- 
bor, and  the  same  troops  protected  the  newly-elected  king 
against  attack  from  his  own  people  for  a  period  of  eight 
days  thereafter.  Kalakaua  was  a  disciple  of  the  auto- 
cratic Kamehameha  V.,  adopting  his  ideas  of  absolutism, 
but  retaining  little  of  the  former's  practical  good  sense. 
Kamehameha  V.  ruled  by  the  very  dominance  of  his 
strong  will;  Kalakaua,  built  on  a  less  noble  plan,  was  com- 
pelled to  resort  to  chicanery  to  accomplish  his  ends,  being 
unscrupulous  and  insincere  and  without  moral  fiber.  His 
people  knew  his  character  and  did  not  trust  him.  His 
election  was  mainly  due  to  American  influence,  his  com- 
petitor. Queen  Emma,  the  widow  of  Kamehameha  IV., 
being  wholly  under  English  influence  and  strongly  averse 
to  closer  commercial  relations  with  the  United  States. 
Kalakaua  was  known  as  "the  foreigner's  king,"  both 
because  of  American  influence  securing  his  election,  and 
because  of  American  protection  until  he  was  established 
on  the  throne.  The  problem  that  faced  him  at  the  outset 
was  how  to  conciliate  his  subjects  and  win  their  adhe- 


254  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

rence.  This  was  to  be  done  without  alienating  the  sup- 
port of  foreign  residents,  at  least  until  he  had  his  own 
people  back  of  him.  A  man  of  better  instincts  would 
have  taken  up  this  task  in  a  patriotic  spirit.  Kalakaua 
was  not  competent  to  deal  with  the  situation  except  in  a 
way  suicidal  to  the  monarchy,  and  vastly  injurious  to  his 
native  subjects. 

POLITICAL  EFFECT  OF  RECIPROCITY.  The 
English  residents,  and  Queen  Emma's  adherents  in  the 
Legislature,  bitterly  opposed  the  treaty  of  reciprocity  with 
the  1  Jnited  States,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  step  toward 
annexation.  One  of  the  effects  of  the  operation  of  mat 
treaty,  however,  was  to  silence  the  discussion  of  annex- 
ation, and  thus  to  remove  from  the  political  arena  one 
of  the  vexed  questions  of  the  day.  This  was  contin- 
gent, however,  on  the  duration  of  the  advantages  of  said 
treaty,  and  later,  when  those  advantages  ceased,  the  ques- 
tion of  annexation  came  inevitably  to  the  front  again. 
The  remarkable  financial  benefits  of  the  treaty  had  an 
effect  also  in  encouraging  a  spirit  of  forbearance  toward 
the  monarchy  in  courses  that  otherwise  would  have  been 
less  leniently  dealt  with.  On  the  other  hand,  the  rapidly- 
increasing  revenues  evoked  a  spirit  of  extravagance  in 
pu1)Iic  expenditures  that  pandered  to  the  king's  whims, 
an/\  in  turn  furnished  him  with  political  leverage  that 
he  was  not  slow  to  utilize  to  his  own  advantage.    He 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  255 

became  the  agent  of  all  political  preferment.  He  became 
the  centre  of  political  bribery.  He  made  it  worth  while  for 
opponents  to  consult  his  wishes,  and  he  was  not  averse  to 
using  public  office  as  a  reward  for  supporting  his  schemes. 
His  hospitality  was  lavish,  and  he  always  had  a  large  reti- 
nue of  dependents  who  shared  his  good  fortune.  The 
effect  of  the  reciprocity  treaty,  in  one  respect,  was  to  fur- 
nish the  king  with  means  to  overcome  his  unpopularity 
with  his  own  people.  The  nation's  prosperity  was  claimed 
to  be  due  to  his  wise  rule.  Only  the  staunchest  natives 
could  withstand  the  seductions  of  his  political  rewards. 
HAWAII  FOR  HAWAIIANSl  Up  to  the  reign  of 
Kalakaua  Hawaiian  kings  had  uniformly  sought  the  coun- 
sel and  service  of  able  foreigners  in  the  administration  of 
the  government.  Only  one  Hawaiian,  Lot  Kamehameha, 
afterwards  Kamehameha  V.,  had  held  a  cabinet  position. 
Hawaiian  sovereigns  had  been  unwilling  to  forego  the  ser- 
vices of  foreigners  in  offices  of  responsibility  and  trust. 
Foreigners,  born  in  the  country,  and  skilled  in  the  Hawaiian 
language,  were  frequently  elected  to  the  Legislature  by 
Hawaiian  constituencies  in  preference  to  candidates  of  their 
own  nationality.  Kalakaua  set  himself  to  work  to  under- 
mine the  confidence  of  natives  in  foreigners,  hoping  thus 
to  curry  popularity  among  his  own  people.  Although  he 
had  put  himself  forward  in  his  race  with  Lunalilo  as  the 
anti-American  champion,  he  gladly  depended  on  the 


256  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

support  of  foreigners  during  the  early  years  of  his  reign. 
Later,  when  i(.  served  his  purpose,  he  did  not  fail  to  ap- 
peal again  to  race  jealousy,  seeking  to  create  it  where  it 
had  no  previous  existence.  The  political  evolution  of  the 
race  had  been  rapid,  and  he  knew  how  to  turn  its  next 
development  to  his  own  advantage.  Before  his  election 
he  was  little  better  than  other  young  Hawaiians  about 
Honolulu,  and  the  effect  of  his  elevation  to  the  throne 
was  to  encourage  a  belief  among  Hawaiians  that  the  time 
had  come  for  them  to  administer  all  offices  of  trust  and 
responsibility.  He  seized  the  opportunity  to  win  to  him- 
self all  ambitious  Hawaiians  by  starting  the  cry  "  Hawaii 
for  Hawaiians."  He  sedulously  cultivated  the  intensest 
race  hatred,  constantly  feeding  it  by  secret  agencies,  and 
making  it  the  decisive  factor  in  elections. 

REVIVAL  OF  HEATHENISM.  The  most  subtle 
political  influence  wielded  by  Kalakaua  was  his  systematic 
encouragement  of  hundreds  of  Kahunas  in  reviving  an- 
cient superstitions.  The  motive  was  a  two-fold  one.  He 
sought  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  churches,  inas- 
much as  the  Hawaiian  churches  condemned  his  immor- 
ality and  were  sources  of  opposition  to  many  of  his 
political  schemes.  He  further  sought  to  throw  about 
himself  something  of  the  sacred  regard  in  which  ancient 
chiefs  were  held.  Wherever  he  went  his  train  of  attend- 
ants chanted  obscene  songs  and  danced  lewd  dances.    He 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  257 

actually  schemed  to  make  himself  the  head  of  a  Hawaiian 
Church.  He  organized  a  secret  society  with  pagan  rites, 
partly  to  pander  to  his  depravity,  but  also  to  serve  his 
political  purposes.  Few  Hawaiians,  even  in  the  churches, 
had  the  stamina  to  resist  the  sinister  influences  emanating 
from  the  palace.  Kalakaua  attracted  young  Hawaiians  by 
holding  out  the  promise  of  public  office.  He  held  others 
to  his  schemes  by  shameless  bribery.  He  stifled  the  op- 
position of  some  by  rewards,  and  of  others  by  intimida- 
tion. So  effectively  did  he  push  his  advantage  in  reviving 
ancient  superstitions,  that  his  influence  permeated  every 
hamlet,  and  those  who  dared  to  vote  against  his  candi- 
dates did  not  dare  to  confess  they  had  so  voted.  Kala- 
kaua's  conquest  of  his  people  was  not  immediate,  but  it 
was  well-nigh  complete.  Whatever  spirit  of  unrest  and 
agitation  remained  among  the  people  he  successfully 
turned  against  foreigners,  and  crystalized  animosities  that 
have  since  led  the  monarchy  into  collapse. 

DEBASING  THE  ELECTORATE.  Political  prefer- 
ment, race  jealousy  and  superstitious  sentiment,  could  none 
of  them  avail  to  overcome  the  stalwart  and  sturdy  opposi- 
tion of  some  Hawaiians.  These  men  were  the  hope  of 
the  race.  The  spirit  shown  by  them  in  resisting  the  king's 
blandishments  and  in  spurning  his  intimidations  was  what 
was  needed  in  holding  the  race  to  a  wise  political  develop- 
ment.   But  eventually  Kalakaua  triumphed  over  even  these 


^SS  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

men.  He  went  personally  to  one  country  district  with  a 
company  of  soldiers,  and  by  their  votes  defeated  Filipo, 
the  Lion  of  North  Kona,  Kalakaua's  staunchest  opponent 
in  the  Legislature.  He  stationed  soldiers  with  side-arms 
in  double  rows  at  polling-places,  intimidating  voters  an.i 
pushing  men  out  of  line  who  were  suspected  of  opposi- 
tion to  his  schemes,  thus  forcibly  preventing  their  voting. 
He  appointed  legislators  to  lucrative  government  positions 
while  they  continued  to  retain  seats  in  the  Legislature. 
These  men  he  employed  to  carry  through  the  Legislature 
pernicious  and  extravagant  legislation  in  opposition  to  the 
will  of  the  people.  He  used  the  royal  franking  privilege 
to  pass  through  the  custom-house,  free  of  duty,  liquors 
belonging  to  certain  firms,  for  which  service  he  received 
hundreds  of  cases  of  cheap  gin,  which  he  sent  to  every 
voting  precinct  to  secure  the  election  of  his  candidates  to 
the  Legislature.  In  the  election  of  1886,  out  of  twenty- 
eight  government  candidates,  twenty-six  were  office- 
holders. Wholesale  bribery  was  of  common  occurrence. 
Out  of  this  debasement  of  the  electorate,  Kalakaua 
emerged  absolute  ruler,  with  no  recourse  for  the  people 
except  in  open  revolution. 

THE  BAUBLE  BURSTS.  After  reigning  nine  years, 
Kalakaua's  coronation  was  observed  with  great  ceremony. 
"Three  years  were  spent  in  preparation  for  the  great 
event,  and  invitations  were  sent  to  all  rulers  and  potentates 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  261 

on  earth  to  be  present  in  person  or  by  proxy.  This  cere- 
mony was  boycotted  by  a  large  part  of  the  foreign  com- 
munity, as  an  expensive  and  useless  pageant,  intended 
to  aid  the  king's  political  schemes  to  make  himself  an 
absolute  monarch.  The  printer  of  the  Coronotion  Hula 
programme,  which  contained  the  subjects  and  first  lines  of 
songs,  was  prosecuted  and  fined  by  the  court  on  account 
of  their  gross  and  incredible  obscenity." 

On  the  occasion  of  the  king's  fiftieth  birthday,  the 
legislature  appropriated  ^15,000  for  a  jubilee  celebration. 
Orders  were  sent  out  for  all  office-holders  to  bring  pres- 
ents. The  Prime  Minister  capped  the  sheaf  by  presenting 
a  pair  of  elephant's  tusks,  mounted  on  a  stand  of  native 
wood,  bearing  the  inscription,  "The  horns  of  the  righteous 
shall  be  exalted."  That  evening  a  ball  was  held  in  the 
Palace,  concluding  with  lewd  dances,  which  gave  offense 
even  to  the  frequenters  of  the  Palace. 

Laying  claim  to  "the  primacy  of  the  Pacific,"  he  bought 
an  old  vessel  for  ^20,000,  expended  ^^0,000  in  repairs, 
appointed  the  principal  of  the  Reform  School  admiral,  and 
his  pupils  marines,  and  sent  her  off  as  a  man-of-war  with 
an  embassy  to  establish  a  protectorate  over  Samoa.  He 
sold  exemptions  to  lepers,  permitting  them  to  go  unmo- 
lested; he  leased  government  lands  to  himself,  contrary 
to  law ;  compelled  the  misapplication  of  road  money,  and, 
finally,  accepted  a  bribe  of   ^79,000  from  a  Chinaman 


262  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

named  Aki,  for  an  opium  license,  which  he  had  already 
sold  and  delivered  to  another  Chinaman,  who  had  given 
the  king  a  bribe  of  $80,000  for  it.  These  rapidly  culmi- 
nating events  solidified  public  sentiment  and  brought  the 
king  to  an  abrupt  halt. 

REFORM  MOVEMENT.  Under  Kalakaua's  baneful 
influence  the  native  electorate  lost  its  independence.  It 
was  utterly  demoralized  by  the  centralizing  and  corrupting 
influences  of  the  Palace.  It  was  no  longer  a  potent  factor 
in  securing  good  government.  Henceforth  good  govern- 
ment must  depend  on  the  active  participation  of  intelligent 
foreign  residents  in  the  privileges  of  citizenship.  With 
few  exceptions  they  did  not  possess  suffrage  rights.  The 
caprice  of  the  crown  led  to  the  denial  of  naturalization  to 
respectable  foreigners  of  long  residence.  Such  men  as 
Dole  and  Thurston  and  Smith  had  the  suffrage  by  right 
of  birth,  and  being  repeatedly  returned  to  the  Legislature 
by  native  constituencies,  had  been  influential  in  defeat- 
ing or  modifying  some  of  the  most  pernicious  schemes 
broached  in  the  Legislature  by  the  king's  agents.  Under 
the  comparatively  wholesome  reign  of  the  Kamehameha 
dynasty  there  had  arisen  no  occasion  for  foreigners  to  feel 
the  need  of  suffrage  rights  to  protect  their  interests.  The 
course  of  events  under  Kalakaua's  expensive  and  puerile 
administration  demonstrated  the  need  of  a  corrective  ballot 
in  the  hands  of  intelligent  men  who  were  identified  with 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  263 

the  best  interests  of  the  land,  and  who  could  not  be 
cajoled  nor  bribed  nor  intimidated.  A  secret  league  was 
formed,  each  member  pledging  to  equip  himself  with  a 
Springfield  rifle  and  sixty  rounds  of  ammunition,  and  to 
hold  himself  in  readiness  to  obey  the  summons  of  a 
Council  of  Thirteen,  to  whom  was  entrusted  the  direction 
of  the  movement.  The  object  was  to  establish  a  republic 
by  dethroning  Kalakaua.  The  Honolulu  Rifles,  a  volunteer 
organization,  was  made  up  almost  to  a  man  of  members 
of  the  league.  On  June  30th,  1887,  the  patience  of  the 
foreign  element  having  exhausted  itself,  an  enthusiastic 
mass  meeting  passed  resolutions  to  the  effect "  that  the 
administration  of  the  Hawaiian  government  has  ceased, 
through  corruption  and  incompetence,  to  perform  the  func- 
tions and  afford  the  protection  to  personal  and  property 
rights  for  which  all  governments  exist,"  and  exacting  of 
the  king  specific  pledges,  within  twenty-four  hours,  of 
future  good  conduct  on  the  basis  of  a  new  constitution. 
It  was  expected  that  a  struggle  would  ensue.  No  one 
expected  the  abject  surrender  by  the  king  that  followed. 
He  sought  to  pass  the  control  of  things  over  into  the  hands 
of  the  diplomatic  representatives.  They  refused  to  com- 
ply with  his  request,  and  advised  him  to  satisfy  tne 
demands  of  the  committee  of  thirteen  appointed  by  the 
mass  meeting.  Twenty  minutes  before  the  expiration  of 
the  allottea  time  ne  sent  his  representative  to  the  com- 


264  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

mittee  to  announce  his  compliance  with  the  demands  of 
the  citizens.  Henceforth  the  monarchy  was  on  probation, 
its  prestige  was  broken.  Public  opinion  and  not  mon- 
archical autocracy  was  hereafter  to  guide  the  government. 
Any  return  to  absolutism  would  be  fatal  to  the  throne. 
Such  was  the  spirit  engendered  among  foreign  residents, 
the  parties  most  directly  and  vitally  interested  in  compe- 
tent and  honest  administration.  Their  position  was  ratified 
at  the  subsequent  election  by  the  native  population,  who, 
realizing  that  the  power  of  the  throne  was  broken,  returned 
representatives  from  every  district  favorable  to  the  new 
constitution  and  government. 

CONSTITUTION  OF  1887.  The  Constitution,  sub- 
seauently  signed  by  the  king,  made  every  male  resident 
of  Hawaiian,  American  or  European  descent,  after  one 
year's  residence,  a  legal  voter.  Other  privileges  were 
conferred,  distinctly  enlarging  the  measure  of  Hawaiian 
citizenship,  and  effectually  removing  the  throne  from  in- 
terference in  the  government.  Thus  the  nobles,  or  upper 
house,  were  made  elective  by  the  people,  instead  of  ap- 
pointive by  the  sovereign  as  formerly.  The  absolute 
power  of  veto  was  taken  away.  No  government  official 
was  eligible  as  a  noble  or  representative,  and  no  member 
of  the  Legislature  could  be  appointed  to  any  office  of 
trust  or  emolument  during  the  term  for  which  he  was 
elected.    The  king  was  retained  as  a  figure-head,  while 


HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY.  267 

the  resDor.Tbilitv  for  the  government  was  placed  whollv 
on  a  Cat^inet.  subject  to  removal  only  by  vote  of  tne 
Lesfislature,  elected  by  the  people. 

Emerging  thus  from  an  era  of  bombastic  display  and 
political  corruption  and  gross  immorality,  for  six  years 
Hawaii  had  a  wise  administration  of  affairs.  The  public 
revenue  was  turned  into  channels  of  public  improvement. 
The  harbor  was  deepened,  good  roads  were  built,  new 
lands  were  opened  for  settlement,  and  all  departments  of 
the  government  felt  the  stimulus  of  a  wise  and  energetic 
administration.  The  Australian  ballot  was  adopted,  use- 
less offices  were  abolished,  the  segregation  of  lepers  was 
rigidly  enforced,  the  method  of  collecting  the  taxes  was 
systematized  and  made  effective,  and  honest  elections 
were  secured.  What  Hawaiians  could  not  secure  lor 
themselves,  foreign  residents,  under  stress  of  royal  aggres- 
sion, secured  for  themselves  and  for  Hawaiians  as  well. 
This  foreign  population,  that  has  been  such  a  factor  in 
the  political  evolution  of  Hawaii,  has  never  taken  united 
action  except  in  behalf  of  good  government.  It  has  been 
moderate  in  its  demands,  humane  in  its  action,  patient 
with  the  frailties  of  an  effete  monarchy,  and  uniformly 
considerate  of  the  political  rights  of  native  Hawaiians. 

QUEEN  LILIUOKALANI.  The  death  of  Kalakaua  in 
1 89 1  brought  Liliuokalani  to  the  throne.  It  was  expected 
she  might  follow  the  arbitrary  example  of  Kamehameha  V. 


26S  HAWAIIAN    MONARCHY. 

and  refuse  to  take  the  oath  to  support  the  Constitution. 
It  was  well-known  that  she  hated  that  document  and  that 
sne  was  a  believer  in  the  absolute  right  of  kings.  Had 
sne  refused,  a  republic  would  have  been  established  at 
once.  The  attitude  of  the  public  mind  was  one  of  dis- 
trust, but  of  willingness  to  accord  her  a  trial.  Public  sen- 
timent was  essentially  voiced  in  the  general  conviction, 
"  She  must  keep  inside  her  constitutional  limits,  or  go  I " 
When  she  put  her  foot  on  the  Constitution  January  14, 
1893,  and  asserted  her  purpose  to  arbitrarily  promulgate 
a  new  one,  she  dramatically  caused  the  collapse. 

NATURAL  SEQUENCE  OF  EVENTS.  The  down- 
fall of  the  Hawaiian  Monarchy  was  in  the  natural  sequence 
ot  events,  and  could  have  been  foretold  with  reasonaole 
certainty  by  any  one  at  all  acquainted  with  the  forces  at 
work  in  that  little  nation.  The  natural  growth  was  toward 
the  largest  enjoyment  of  political  rights  by  the  people,  ana 
the  reasonable  accommodation  of  the  throne  to  the  de- 
mands of  this  progressive  movement. 
*  But  the  monarchy  grew  rigid.  It  threw  itself  across  the 
pathway.  It  sought  to  turn  the  wheels  backward,  and 
grew  autocratic  and  arbitrary.  With  an  almost  insane 
temerity,  it  assumed  the  role  of  arbiter,  ruled  the  other 
party  out  of  court,  pronounced  judgment,  and  miseraDiy 
perished  at  its  own  nands. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

Appointed  by  President  Harrison  United  States  Minis- 
ter to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  John  L.  Stevens  for  the  first 
time  saw  those  beautiful  emeralds  of  the  North  Pacific  in 
September,  1889,  when  he  entered  on  his  official  duties 
at  Honolulu.  He  had  not  been  long  at  the  Hawaiian 
capital  when  he  perceived  how  thoroughly  an  American 
city  it  is,  how  strong  is  American  sympathy  and  how  pre- 
dominating are  American  interests  and  opinions  in  all  the 
Islands  of  the  Hawaiian  group.  More  than  one  year  of 
careful  study  of  the  then  existing  complex  facts  Mr. 
Stevens  found  necessary  to  a  correct  understanding  of 
the  moral,  commercial  and  political  state  of  the  Islands. 
Though  he  had  had  much  previous  experience  and  obser- 
vation among  the  nations  of  three  continents,  he  found  a 
condition  of  things  in  Honolulu  unlike  that  he  had  ever 
known  at  any  other  national  capital.  He  found  an  intel- 
ligent body  of  citizens,  of  European  and  American  origin, 
sharing  the  good-will  of  many  native  Hawaiians,  support- 
ing a  semi-barbaric  monarchy  resting  on  no  solid  or  nor- 

269 


270        HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

mal  foundation,  dead  in  everything  but  its  vices,  coarsely 
luxuriant  in  its  tastes  and  wishes,  spreading  social  and 
political  demoralization  throughout  the  Islands.  This 
semi-heathen  and  spurious  government  mechanism,  called 
the  Hawaiian  Monarchy,  was  being  chiefly  supported  by 
the  taxes  and  toleration  of  those  who  could  have  no  sin- 
cere loyalty  to  it,  and  who  knew  that  it  returned  to  the 
Islands  nothing  for  the  money  it  annually  squandered  on 
worse  than  useless  expenditures.  That  such  a  barbaric 
and  absurd  counterfeit  in  the  name  of  government  and 
law  as  the  Hawaiian  monarchy  had  finally  become  in 
practice,  was  so  long  endured  is  a  striking  proof  of  the 
self-control  and  forbearance  of  the  responsible  citizens  of 
the  Islands.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  such  an  abomination 
in  the  name  of  government,  or  for  any  other  pretense  or 
purpose,  would  not  be  allowed  to  exist  sixty  days  in  any 
of  our  American  cities  or  States.  Only  very  exceptional 
circumstances  caused  the  responsible  citizens  and  princi- 
pal tax-payers  of  the  Islands  so  long  to  maintain  this 
worse  than  useless  monarchy.  One  year's  careful  obser- 
vation of  the  existing  state  of  things  brought  me  to  the 
firm  belief  that  it  could  not  continue.  The  death  of  King 
Kalakaua,  in  1890,  and  the  accession  of  his  sister  to  the 
little  throne,  revealed  many  facts  and  circumstances  which 
showed  how  utterly  vicious  and  demoralizing  the  mon- 
archy had  become.  Bad  as  had  been  the  courtiers  and 
favorite  companions  and  advisers  of  this  semi-barbaric 


i 


CAPTAIN  GILBERT  C.  WILTSE  was  Dorn  in  New  York  in  1838.  During 
the  Civil  War  lie  tooli  part  in  engagements  in  Hampden  Roads,  between  tlie 
"Congress"  and  "  Merrimac,"  and  was  afterward  in  the  engagement  of  the 
monitors  at  Fort  Si:ir.ter.  Captain  Wiltse  commanded  the  United  States  Ship 
"  Boston,"  stationed  at  Honolulu  during  the  recent  revolution. 


HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         273 

king,  those  whom  his  sister  Liliuokalani  immediately  drew 
around  her  were  certainly  no  better.  The  death  of  her 
brother,  followed  by  that  of  her  lawful  husband,  did  not 
prevent  her  from  appointing  to  the  chief  executive  office 
of  the  Islands  the  Tahitian  half-white,  C.  B.  Wilson,  who 
had  long  sustained  discreditable  relations  to  her,  and 
whom  she  now  installed  in  her  palace,  though  he  had 
a  lawfully  married  wife,  and  the  royal  chamberlain  paid 
out  of  the  government  treasury  was  always  at  his  post 
to  discharge  palace  duties.  Even  this  astounding  exhibi- 
tion of  shame  and  the  unworthy  character  of  most  of 
her  white  retainers  and  confidants  the  Hawaiian  public 
endured  without  overt  acts  of  protest  and  indignation. 

The  biennial  Legislature  assembled  in  May,  1892.  That 
body  very  soon  asserted  its  constitutional  prerogative  in 
voting  out  a  ministry  that  had  consented  to  the  mal- 
administration of  the  Queen  and  her  palace  favorite,  who 
exercised  dictatorial  powers  and  rioted  in  official  police 
corruption.  Instead  of  appointing  ministers  possessing 
the  confidence  of  the  Legislative  majority  and  of  the 
business  men  of  the  Islands,  Liliuokalani  continued  to 
select  those  of  her  own  type  of  character,  especially  those 
whom  she  knew  would  retain  her  palace  favorite  in 
power.  Three  successive  ministers  of  this  description, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks,  were  voted  out  by  the 
Legislature,  with  a  warm  approval  of  all  the  best  men  of 


274         HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

the  Islands.  At  last  the  Queen  appeared  to  yield  to  the 
pressure  of  public  opinion,  and  consented  to  the  appoint- 
ment of  four  responsible  men— Peter  C.  Jones,  W.  L 
Wilcox,  Mark  P.  Robinson  and  Cecil  Brown — three  of 
them  persons  of  wealth,  all  of  them  of  good  financial 
standing,  fully  sharing  the  public  confidence.  These  gen- 
tlemen took  their  official  places  with  reluctance  and  only 
from  a  sense  of  duty  to  the  country.  Known  as  the 
Wilcox-Jones  Ministry,  it  was  believed  that  they  would 
safely  carry  the  country  through  the  following  eighteen 
months,  to  the  election  and  assemblage  of  the  next  Legis- 
lature. Fully  sharing  this  belief,  the  United  States  Minister 
and  Naval  Commander  left  Honolulu  January  4,  1893,  in 
the  United  States  cruiser  "  Boston,"  for  Hilo  and  the  Vol- 
cano, the  distance  of  nearly  three  hundred  miles.  It  was 
the  first  time  for  many  months  Mr.  Stevens  had  felt  it  safe 
for  the  United  States  Minister  and  Naval  Commander  to 
be  away  from  the  Hawaiian  capital.  They  were  absent 
ten  days.  When  they  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Honolulu 
on  their  return  from  Hilo,  in  the  forenoon  of  January  14th, 
there  came  to  them  the  startling  news  that  the  Queen 
and  the  white  adventurers  who  surrounded  her,  had,  by 
intrigue  and  bribery,  carried  the  lottery  and  opium  bills 
through  the  Legislature,  had  forced  out  the  Wilcox- 
Jones  Ministry,  had  appointed  in  their  places  four  of  her 
palace  retainers,  two  of  whom  the  Legislature  and  the 


HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         275 

responsible  public  had  recently  and  repeatedly  rejected, 
headed  by  the  man  who  had  carried  the  lottery  and  opium 
bills  through  the  Legislature.  In  spite  of  numerous  peti- 
tions and  protests  from  all  the  Islands,  both  of  whites  and 
native  Hawaiians,  and  the  earnest  remonstrance  of  the 
Chambers  of  Commerce  and  the  principal  financial  men 
of  the  country,  the  Queen  immediately  signed  the  iniqui- 
tous bills,  though  she  had  previously  given  express  implied 
pledges  to  the  contrary.  Both  she  and  the  adventurers 
who  surrounded  her,  expected  thus  to  obtain  the  money  to 
carry  on  the  government,  by  making  Honolulu  a  fortress 
of  lottery  gamblers  and  opium  smugglers  amid  the  ocean, 
from  which  they  could,  by  every  mail  steamer  to  the 
United  States,  send  out  the  poison  billets  of  chance,  by 
which  to  rob  the  American  people  of  their  millions  of 
money — a  method  of  gaining  silver  and  gold  as  wicked 
and  audacious  as  that  of  the  freebooters  who  once  estab- 
lished themselves  in  the  West  Indian  seas  and  made 
piratical  forays  on  American  commerce.  But  even  this 
was  not  enough  for  the  semi-barbaric  Queen  and  the 
adventurers  around  her.  To  securely  fortify  themselves 
in  their  schemes  of  usurpation  and  robbery  they  must 
have  a  new  Constitution.  They  were  afraid  the  Supreme 
Court  would  decide  their  lottery  bill  unconstitutional.  The 
Supreme  Court  therefore  must  be  reconstructed  so  that  the 
Queen  could  reappoint  the  judges,  giving  the  final  appeal  to 


276        HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

the  Queen  herself.  The  new  Constitution  was  to  be  pro- 
claimed in  a  way  that  the  existing  Constitution  expressly 
prohibits.  By  the  Constitution  which  Liliuokalani  had 
sworn  to  maintain,  that  document  could  be  amended  or 
changed  only  in  one  way,  which  was  by  the  vote  of  two 
successive  Legislatures.  Her  four  new  ministers  were  in 
the  plot. 

While  the  "  Boston  "  was  coming  into  the  harbor  of 
Honolulu,  on  the  forenoon  of  January  14th,  a  crowd  of  the 
less  responsible  natives,  especially  those  of  the  hoodlum 
elements  of  Honolulu,  at  the  call  of  the  Queen  and  her 
immediate  supporters,  were  gathering  in  the  Palace 
grounds.  The  Legislature  was  to  be  prorogued  at  twelve 
M.  of  that  day.  The  revolutionary  edict  of  Hawaii's 
misguided  sovereign  was  ready  to  be  proclaimed,  rumors 
of  which  had  already  reached  the  public  ear.  The  storm 
of  public  indignation  began  to  gather.  A  few  minutes 
before  the  appointed  hour  for  the  coup  d'etat,  immediately 
after  the  arrival  of  the  United  States  Minister  at  the  lega- 
tion from  the  "  Boston,"  he  was  urged  to  go  at  once  to 
the  English  Minister  to  ask  him  to  accompany  the  Ameri- 
can Minister  to  the  Queen  and  try  to  dissuade  her  from 
her  revolutionary  design.  Mr.  Stevens  promptly  sought  to 
comply  with  this  request,  went  immediately  to  the  English 
Minister,  who  was  ready  to  co-operate  with  the  United 
States  Minister,  if  there  were  any  possibility  of  effecting 


HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         277 

any  good.  Minister  Stevens  and  Minister  Wodehouse 
went  immediately  to  the  foreign  office  to  seek  access  to 
the  Queen  in  the  customary  manner.  It  was  then  nearly 
twelve  o'clock,  and  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  was  not 
in  his  office.  The  hour  of  proroguing  had  arrived.  That 
ceremony  concluded,  the  Queen  went  immediately  to  the 
Palace,  around  which  the  mob  and  her  retainers  were 
gathering.  It  was  thus  too  late  for  the  American  and 
English  Ministers  even  to  attempt  to  reason  with  the  mis- 
guided woman  who  had  already  launched  the  revolution, 
which  could  not  be  arrested,  though  her  cowardly  min- 
isters of  the  lottery  gang,  who  had  just  been  appointed 
by  her  to  aid  her  in  her  revolutionary  designs,  became 
alarmed  and  drew  back.  She  scorned  their  cowardice 
and  pushed  on  to  her  doom.  After  four  hours  of  bitter 
and  stormy  wrangling  in  and  outside  of  her  Palace  her 
attempted  coup  d'etat  proved  abortive,  though  she  went 
upon  the  balcony  and  promised  the  excited  crowd  that 
she  would  renew  her  revolutionary  scheme  at  a  future 
tim.e.  Saturday  night  of  January  14th  told  every  intelli- 
gent man  in  Honolulu  that  the  Hawaiian  monarchy  was 
at  an  end — ^that  the  responsible  persons  of  the  Islands, 
the  property-holders  and  the  friends  of  law  and  order, 
must  thereafter  take  charge  of  public  affairs  and  establish 
a  government  in  place  of  the  interregnum  which  the  fallen 
Queen  had  created.    The  great  mass  meeting  of  January 


278         HISTORY    OF   THE    REVOLUTION. 

i6th,  worthy  of  the  best  American  towns,  of  the  best 
American  days,  was  held.  It  was  made  up  of  the  best 
and  chief  men  of  the  country — the  owners  of  property, 
the  professional  and  educated  citizens,  merchants,  bankers, 
clerks,  mechanics,  teachers,  clergymen.  This  assemblage 
was  a  unit  in  opinion  and  purpose.  It  was  stirred  by  a 
common  sentiment,  the  love  of  country  and  the  desire  for 
public  order  and  public  security.  It  took  its  measures 
wisely  and  prudently.  Unanimously  and  with  great 
enthusiasm  it  passed  the  following  resolutions : — 

"I.  Whereas  Her  Majesty  Liliuokalani,  acting  in  conjunction 
with  certain  other  persons,  has  illegally  and  unconstitutionally  and 
against  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  lawful  executive  officers  of  the 
Government,  attempted  to  abrogate  the  existing  constitution  and 
proclaim  a  new  one  in  subversion  of  the  rights  of  the  people  ; 

"  2.  And  whereas  such  attempt  has  been  accompanied  by  threats 
of  violence  and  bloodshed  and  a  display  of  armed  force,  and  such 
attempts  and  acts  and  threats  are  revolutionary  and  treasonable  in 
character ; 

"  3.  And  whereas  Her  Majesty's  cabinet  have  informed  her  that 
such  contemplated  action  was  unlawful  and  would  lead  to  bloodshed 
and  riot,  and  have  implored  and  demanded  of  her  to  desist  from  and 
renounce  such  proposed  action  ; 

"  4.  And  whereas  such  advice  has  been  in  vain,  and  Her  Majesty 
has  in  a  public  speech  announced  that  she  was  desirous  and  ready 
to  promulgate  such  constitution,  the  same  being  now  ready  for  such 
purpose,  and  that  the  only  reason  why  it  was  not  now  promulgated 
was  because  she  had  met  with  unexpected  obstacles  and  that  a 
fitting  opportunity  in  the  future  must  be  awaited  for  the  consumma- 
tion of  such  object,  which  would  be  within  a  few  days  ; 


HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         279 

•*  5.  And  whereas  at  a  public  meeting  of  citizens  held  in  Hono- 
lulu on  the  14th  day  of  January  instant,  a  committee  of  thirteen, 
to  be  known  as  the  *  Committee  of  Public  Safety  '  was  appointed  to 
consider  the  situation  and  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  public  peace  and  safety  and  the  preservation  of  life  and 
property  ; 

"6.  And  whereas  such  committee  has  recommended  the  calling 
of  this  mass  meeting  of  citizens  to  protest  against  and  condemn  such 
action  and  has  this  day  presented  a  report  to  such  meeting  denounc- 
ing the  action  of  the  Queen  and  her  supporters  as  being  unlawful, 
unwarranted,  in  derogation  of  the  rights  of  the  people,  endangering 
the  peace  of  the  community,  and  tending  to  excite  riot  and  cause 
the  loss  of  life  and  destruction  of  property  ; 

"Now,  therefore,  we,  the  citizens  of  Honolulu,  of  all  nationalities 
and  regardless  of  political  party  affiliations,  do  hereby  condemn  and 
denounce  the  action  of  the  Queen  and  her  supporters  ; 

"  And  we  do  hereby  ratify  the  appointment  and  indorse  the 
action  taken  and  report  made  by  the  said  Committee  of  Safety  ;  and 
we  do  hereby  further  empower  such  committee  to  further  consider 
the  situation  and  further  devise  such  ways  and  means  as  may  be 
necessary  to  secure  the  permanent  maintenance  of  law  and  order 
and  the  protection  of  life,  liberty,  and  property  in  Hawaii." 

Its  Committee  of  Public  Safety  requested  the  Minister 
of  the  United  States  to  land  the  men  of  the  "Boston,"  lest 
riot  and  incendiarism  might  burst  out  in  the  night,  for  no 
reliable  police  force  longer  existed,  and  whatever  there 
was  of  this  force  was  now  in  the  control  of  the  usurpers 
and  the  lottery  gamblers,  who  had  initiated  the  revolution. 
During  the  intervening  hours  of  Saturday  night,  Sunday 
and  Monday  there  was  an  intense  feeling  and  great  anxiety 


28o         HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

as  to  what  might  take  place,  and  the  American  Minister 
had  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  gravity  of  the  situation 
required  him,  in  conformity  to  the  rules  and  instructions 
of  the  Legation,  to  land  the  naval  force,  and  he  would 
have  done  so  had  not  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety 
made  the  request.  Monday  afternoon  of  January  i6th,  he 
went  on  board  the  *'  Boston,"  bearing  the  following  note  to 
Captain  Wiltse : — 

"  United  States  Legation,  January  i6,  1893. 

"  In  view  of  the   existing  critical  circumstances   in  Honolulu, 

indicating  an  inadequate  legal  force,  I  request  you  to  land  marines 

and  sailors  from  the  ship  under  your  command  for  the  protection 

of  the  United  States  Legation  and  the  United  States  Consulate, 

and  to  secure  the  safety  of  American  life  and  property. 

"  John  L.  Stevens. 
"To  Captain  Wiltse,  U.  S.  N." 

The  order  of  Captain  Wiltse  to  Lieutenant-Commander  Swin- 
burne, who  commanded  the  naval  battalion  on  shore,  read  as  fol- 
lows, under  the  same  date  : — 

"You  will  take  the  command  of  the  battalion,  and  land  in  Hono- 
lulu for  the  purpose  of  protecting  our  Legation  and  the  lives  and 
property  of  American  citizens,  and  to  assist  in  the  preservation  of 
public  order.  Great  prudence  must  be  exercised  by  both  officers 
and  men,  and  no  action  taken  that  is  not  fully  warranted  by  the 
condition  of  affairs  and  by  the  conduct  of  those  who  may  be  inimical 
to  the  treaty  rights  of  American  citizens.  You  will  inform  me  at  the 
earliest  practical  moment  of  any  change  in  the  situation." 

It  will  be  observed  that  Captain  Wiltse's  order  goes 
farther  than   the  note  of  Mr.    Stevens,  making  the 


EX-QUEEN  LILIUOKALAXI.  Liliuokalani,  whose  name  has  now  become  so  well 
known  throughout  America,  as  ex-queen  of  Hawaii,  is  of  rather  darker  conipU-xiou 
than  the  ordinary  native.  With  hirge,  heavy  frame  and  sh>\v  movement,  she  has 
little  of  the  traditional  grace  of  the  Hawaiian  women,  when  confined  in  llu-  garments 
of  the  European  fashion. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         2S3 

preservation  of  public  order  the  duty  of  the  naval  force, 
in  case  of  necessity,  of  which  the  Minister  and  Naval 
Commander  must  be  the  judge.  This  is  in  exact  accord- 
ance with  the  terms  of  the  dispatch  of  Secretary  Bayard 
to  Minister  Merrill,  at  a  former  revolutionary  period  in 
Hawaiian  affairs.  The  terms  of  the  Bayard  dispatch  is  as 
follows : — 

"  United  States  Department  of  State, 
''Washington,  July  12,  1887. 

*'  In  the  absence  of  any  detailed  information  from  you  of  the 
late  disorders  in  the  domestic  control  of  Hawaii  and  the  changes 
which  have  taken  place  in  the  official  corps  of  that  government,  I 
am  not  able  to  give  you  other  than  general  instructions,  which 
may  be  communicated  in  substance  to  the  commander  of  the  vessel 
or  vessels  of  this  government  in  the  waters  of  Hawaii,  with  whom 
you  will  freely  confer,  in  order  that  such  prompt  and  efficient  action 
may  be  taken  as  the  circumstances  may  make  necessary. 

**  While  we  abstain  from  interference  with  the  domestic  affairs 
of  Hawaii,  in  accordance  with  the  policy  and  practice  of  this  Gov- 
ernment, yet,  obstruction  to  the  channels  of  legitimate  commerce 
under  existing  laws  must  not  be  allowed,  and  American  citizens  in 
Hawaii  must  he  protected  in  their  persons  and  property,  by  the  repre- 
sentative of  their  country's  law  and  power,  and  no  internal  discord 
must  he  suffered  to  impair  them. 

"Your  own  aid  and  council,  as  well  as  the  assistance  of  the 
officers  of  the  Government  vessels,  if  found  necessary,  will  therefore 
he  promptly  afforded  to  promote  the  reign  of  law  and  respect  for 
orderly  government  in  Hawaii. 

*}•  3|C  5jC  'I*  'I*  'f*  *l* 

"T.  F.  Bayard,  Secretary  of  State." 


284         HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION 

Under  the  diplomatic  and  naval  rules  so  plain  and 
imperative,  the  United  States  Minister  and  the  Naval 
Commander  would  have  shamefully  ignored  their  duty 
had  they  not  landed  the  men  of  the  "  Boston,"  for  the 
security  of  American  life  and  property,  even  had  the  citi- 
zens of  Honolulu  and  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  not 
requested  them  to  do  so.  As  American  representatives, 
five  thousand  miles  from  their  government,  they  could  not 
have  escaped  their  responsibilities,  even  had  they  desired 
to  do  so.  Fortunately  the  commander  of  the  '*  Boston" 
and  those  under  his  command  had  no  desire  to  shirk  their 
duty.  They  appreciated  the  obligations  of  American  pa- 
triotism and  the  honor  of  the  American  navy.  The 
allurements  of  a  semi-barbaric  court  and  the  various 
seductive  efforts  of  the  palace  adventurers  to  conceal  from 
them  the  real  state  of  things,  had  not  blinded  their  eyes  to 
the  condition  of  affairs  in  Honolulu.  On  shore,  in  perfect 
order,  they  stepped  not  an  inch  from  the  line  of  duty. 
They  never  lifted  a  finger  in  aid  of  the  fallen  monarchy  or 
the  rising  provisional  government.  The  former  sought 
their  aid,  but  neither  the  monarchists  nor  the  supporters 
of  the  provisional  government  had  the  least  assistance  of 
force  by  Captain  Wiltse  and  those  under  his  command. 
All  assertion  to  the  contrary,  by  whomsoever  uttered,  are 
audacious  falsehoods  without  a  semblance  of  truth.  All 
the  official  notes  of  Mr.  Stevens  and  the  written  orders  of 


HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         285 

Captain  Wiltse,  as  well  as  the  testimony  of  the  officers 
under  his  command,  completely  attest  the  truth  of  the 
above  statement.  To  the  same  import  is  the  following 
communication  addressed  to  Minister  Stevens  by  the  fallen 
Queen,  signed  by  herself  and  by  the  four  ministers  who 
had  been  closely  identified  with  her  in  her  revolutionary 
proceedings : — 

"  The  assurance  conveyed  by  a  royal  proclamation  by  myself 
and  ministers  yesterday  having  been  received  by  my  native  subjects 
and  by  them  ratified  at  a  mass  meeting,  was  received  in  a  different 
spirit  by  the  meeting  representing  the  foreign  population  and  inter- 
ests in  my  kingdom.  It  is  now  my  desire  to  give  to  Your  Excel- 
lency, as  the  diplomatic  representative  of  the  United  States  of 
America  at  my  court,  the  solemn  assurance  that  the  present  consti- 
tution will  be  upheld  and  maintained  by  me  and  my  ministers  and 
no  changes  will  be  made  except  by  the  method  therein  provided.  I 
desire  to  express  to  Your  Excellency  this  assurance  in  the  spirit  of 
that  friendship  which  has  ever  existed  between  my  kingdom  and 
that  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  which 

I  trust  will  long  continue. 

"  LILIUOKALANI,  R. 

"  Samuel  Parker,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
"Wm.  H.  Cornell,  Minister  of  Finance. 
"John.  F.  COLBURN,  Minister  of  Interior. 
*'A.  P.  Peterson,  Attorney  General. 

"lOLANi  Palace,  Honolulu,  January  17,  1893." 

This  earnestly  pleading  document  from  the  fallen  mon- 
arch and  the  terror-stricken  lottery  gang  came  to  the 
American  Minister  more  than  twenty  hours  after  the  men 


286         HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

of  the  "  Boston  "  had  landed.  This  plainly  implies  that 
the  fallen  Liliuokalani  and  her  confidants  then  knew,  as 
they  could  not  have  failed  to  know,  that  Minister  Stevens 
and  the  American  Naval  Commander  had  not  taken  part 
in  her  overthrow,  which  had  already  been  accomplished. 
An  hour  later  the  fallen  ministers  went  to  the  United 
States  Legation  and  urged  on  Mr.  Stevens  the  inquiry,  if 
he  could  not  use  the  United  States'  force  to  sustain  the 
Queen.  The  answer  of  Minister  Stevens  was  that  the 
United  States'  soldiers  were  on  shore  for  a  pacific  purpose, 
to  protect  American  life  and  pr  perty,  and  could  not  take 
sides  in  aid  of  a  fallen  monarch,  nor  with  those  who  were 
then  masters  of  the  situation  and  were  creating  a  new 
government.  Of  like  import  as  to  the  non-intervention  of 
the  United  States  force,  is  the  testimony  of  hundreds  of 
the  chief  citizens  of  Honolulu,  including  judges,  bankers, 
lawyers,  college  professors,  clergymen,  and  others,  who 
knew  all  the  facts  and  circumstances  relative  to  the  fall  of 
the  Hawaiian  monarchy  and  the  establishment  of  the 
provisional  government.  Early  in  the  afternoon  of  Janu- 
ary 17th,  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety,  having  taken 
possession  of  the  governm.ent  building,  issued  the  follow- 
proclamation : — 

PROCLAMATION.  In  its  earlier  history  Hawaii  possessed  a 
Constitutional  Government  honestly  and  economically  administered 
in  the  public  interest. 


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HISTORY    OF   THE    REVOLUTION.         289 

The  Crown  called  to  its  assistance  as  advisers  able,  honest  and 
conservative  men  whose  integrity  is  unquestioned  even  by  their 
political  opponents. 

The  stability  of  the  Government  was  assured  ;  armed  resistance 
and  revolution  unthought  of,  popular  rights  were  respected  and  the 
privileges  of  the  subject  from  time  to  time  increased,  and  the  pre- 
rogatives of  the  Sovereign  diminished  by  the  voluntary  acts  of  the 
successive  kings. 

With  very  few  exceptions  this  state  of  affairs  continued  until  the 
expiration  of  the  first  few  years  of  the  reign  of  His  late  Majesty 
Kalakaua.  At  this  time  a  change  was  discernible  in  the  spirit 
animating  the  chief  executive  and  in  the  influences  surrounding  the 
throne.  A  steadily  increasing  disposition  was  manifested  on  the 
part  of  the  King,  to  extend  the  Royal  prerogatives  ;  to  favor  adven- 
turers and  persons  of  no  character  or  standing  in  the  community  ; 
to  encroach  upon  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  people  by  steadily 
increasing  corruption  of  electors,  and  by  means  of  the  power  and 
influence  of  oifice-holders  and  other  corrupt  means  to  illegitimately 
influence  the  elections,  resulting  in  the  final  absolute  control  of  not 
only  the  executive  and  legislative,  but  to  a  certain  extent  the 
judicial,  departments  of  the  government,  in  the  interest  of  absolutism. 

This  finally  resulted  in  the  revulsion  of  feeling  and  popular  up- 
rising of  1887,  which  wrested  from  the  King  a  large  portion  of  his 
ill-gotten  powers. 

The  leaders  of  this  movement  were  not  seeking  personal  aggran- 
disement, political  power  or  the  suppression  of  the  native  govern- 
ment. If  this  had  been  their  object  it  could  easily  have  been 
accomplished,  for  they  had  the  absolute  control  of  the  situation. 

Their  object  was  to  secure  responsible  government  through  a 
representative  Cabinet,  supported  by  and  responsible  to  the  people's 
elected  representatives.  A  clause  to  this  effect  was  inserted  in  the 
Constitution  and  subsequently  enacted  by  law  by  the  Legislature, 
specifically  covering  the  ground  that,  in  all  matters  concerning  the 


290         HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION 

State  the  Sovereign  was  to  act  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the  Cabi- 
net and  only  by  and  with  such  advice. 

The  King  willingly  agreed  to  such  proposition,  expressed  regret 
for  the  past,  and  volunteered  promises  for  the  future. 

Almost  from  the  date  of  such  agreement  and  promises,  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death,  the  history  of  the  Government  has  been  a  con- 
tinual struggle  between  the  King  on  the  one  hand  and  the  Cabinet 
and  the  Legislature  on  the  other,  the  former  constantly  endeavor- 
ing by  every  available  form  of  influence  and  evasion  to  ignore  his 
promises  and  agreements  and  regain  his  lost  power's. 

This  conflict  upon  several  occasions  came  to  a  crisis,  followed 
each  time  by  a  submission  on  the  part  of  His  Majesty,  by  renewed 
expressions  of  regret  and  promises,  to  abide  by  the  constitutitnal 
and  legal  restrictions  in  the  future.  In  each  instance  such  promise 
was  kept  until  a  further  opportunity  presented  itself,  when  the 
conflict  was  renewed  in  defiance  and  regardless  of  all  previous 
pledges. 

Upon  the  accession  of  Her  Majesty  Liliuol<alani,  for  a  brief 
period  th  hope  prevailed  that  new  policy  would  be  adopted.  This 
hope  was  soon  blasted  by  her  immediately  entering  into  conflict 
with  the  existing  Cabinet,  who  held  office  with  the  approval  of  a 
large  majority  of  the  Legislature,  resulting  in  the  triumph  of  the 
Queen  and  the  removal  of  the  Cabinet.  The  appointment  of  a  new 
Cabinet  subservient  to  her  wishes  and  their  continuance  in  office 
until  a  recent  date  gave  no  opportunity  for  further  indication  of  the 
policy  which  would  be  pursued  by  Her  Majesty  until  the  opening  of 
the  Legislature  in  May  of  1892. 

The  recent  history  of  that  session  has  shown  a  stubborn  deter- 
mination on  the  part  of  Her  Majesty  to  follow  the  tactics  of  her  late 
brother  and  in  all  possible  ways  to  secure  an  extension  of  the  royal 
prerogatives  and  an  abridgment  of  popular  rights. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  session  the  Legislature  was  replete 
with   corruption  ;    bribery   and   other  illegitimate   influences  were 


HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         291 

openly  utilized  to  secure  the  desired  end,  resulting  in  the  final 
complete  overthrow  of  all  opposition  and  the  inauguration  of  a  Cabi- 
net arbitrarily  selected  by  Her  Majesty  in  complete  defiance  of 
constitutional  principles  and  popular  representation. 

Notwithstanding  such  result  the  defeated  party  peacefully  sub- 
mitted to  the  situation. 

Not  content  with  her  victory  Her  Majesty  proceeded  on  the  last 
day  of  the  session  to  arbitrarily  arrogate  to  herself  the  right  to  pro- 
mulgate a  new  Constitution,  which  proposed,  among  other  things,  to 
disfranchise  over  one-fourth  of  the  voters  and  the  owners  of  nine- 
tenths  of  the  private  property  of  the  kingdom  ;  to  abolish  the  elected 
upper  house  of  the  legislature  and  to  substitute  in  place  thereof  an 
appointive  one,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Sovereign. 

The  detailed  history  of  this  attempt  and  the  succeeding  events 
in  connection  therewith  is  given  in  the  report  of  the  Committee  of 
Public  Safety  to  the  citizens  of  Honolulu,  and  the  resolution  adopted 
at  the  mass  meeting  held  on  the  i6th  instant,  the  correctness  of 
which  report  and  the  propriety  of  which  resolution  is  hereby  specifi- 
cally affirmed. 

The  constitutional  evolution  indicated  has  slowly  and  steadily, 
though  reluctantly  and  regretfully,  convinced  an  overwhelming  ma- 
jority of  the  conservative  and  responsible  members  of  the  commu- 
nity that  independent,  constitutional,  representative  and  responsible 
government,  able  to  protect  itself  from  revolutionary  uprisings  and 
royal  aggression,  is  no  longer  possible  in  Hawaii  under  the  existing 
system  of  government. 

Five  uprisings  or  conspiracies  against  the  Government  have 
occurred  within  five  years  and  seven  months.  It  is  firmly  believed 
that  the  culminating  revolutionary  attempt  of  last  Saturday  will, 
unless  radical  measures  are  taken,  wreck  our  already  damaged  credit 
abroad  and  precipitate  to  final  ruin  our  already  over-strained  financial 
condition ;  and  the  guarantee  of  protection  to  life,  liberty  and  property 
will  steadily  decrease  and  the  political  situation  rapidly  grow  worse 


292         HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

In  this  belief,  and  also  in  the  firm  belief  that  the  action  hereby 
taken  is  and  will  be  for  the  best  personal,  political  and  property 
interests  of  every  citizen  of  the  land — 

We,  citizens  and  residents  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  organized 
and  acting  for  the  public  safety  and  the  common  good,  hereby  pro- 
claim as  follows  : — 

(i)  The  Hawaiian  monarchical  system  of  government  is  hereby 
abrogated. 

(2)  A  provisional  government  for  the  control  and  management  of 
public  affairs  and  the  protection  of  the  public  peace  is  hereby  estab- 
lished, to  exist  until  terms  of  union  with  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica have  been  negotiated  and  agreed  upon. 

(3)  Such  provisional  government  shall  consist  of  an  executive 
council  of  four  members,  who  are  hereby  declared  to  be  Sanford 
B.  Dole,  James  A.  King,  Peter  C.  Jones,  William  O.  Smith,  who  shall 
administer  the  executive  departments  of  the  government,  the  first- 
named  acting  as  president  and  chairman  of  such  council  and  admin- 
istering the  department  of  foreign  affairs,  and  the  others  severally 
administering  the  departments  of  interior,  finance  and  attorney-gen- 
eral, respectively,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  above  enumerated, 
according  to  existing  Hawaiian  law  as  far  as  may  be  consistent  with 
this  proclamation  ;  and  also  of  an  advisory  council,  which  shall  con- 
sist of  fourteen  members,  who  are  hereby  declared  to  be  S.  M. 
Damon,  L.  A.  Thurston,  J.  Emmeluth,  J.  A.  McCandless,  F.  W. 
McChesney,  W.  R.  Castle,  W.  C.  Wilder,  A.  Brown,  J.  F.  Morgan, 
H.  Waterhouse,  E.  D.  Tenney,  F.  Wilhelm,  W.  G.  Ashley,  C.  Bolte. 
Such  advisory  council  shall  also  have  general  legislative  authority. 

Such  executive  and  advisory  council  shall,  acting  jointly,  have 
power  to  remove  any  member  of  either  council  and  to  fill  such  or 
any  other  vacancy. 

(4)  All  officers  under  the  existing  government  are  hereby 
requested  to  continue  to  exercise  their  functions  and  perform  the 


1 


SANFORD  BALLARD  DOLE,  President  of  the  Provisional  Government  of 
Hawaii,  Is  forty-nine  years  of  age ;  born  In  Honolulu  of  American  parentage. 
He  was  educated  at  Oahu  College  in  Honolulu,  and  at  Williams  College  in  the 
United  States.  He  studied  law  in  Boston  ;  was  admitted  to  the  A'lassachusetts 
bar,  soon  afterwards  returning  to  Honolulu,  where  he  became  one  of  the  leading 
lawyers. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         295 

duties  of  their  respective  offices,  with  the  exception  of  the  following- 
named  persons :  Queen  Liliuokalani ;  Charles  B.  Wilson,  Marshal  ; 
Samuel  Parker,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  ;  W.  H.  Cornwell,  Min- 
ister of  Finance  ;  John  F.  Colburn,  Minister  of  the  Interior  ;  Arthur 
P.  Peterson,  Attorney-General,  who  are  hereby  removed  from  office. 
(5)  All  Hawaiian  laws  and  constitutional  principles  not  incon- 
sistent herewith  shall  continue  in  force  until  further  order  of  the 
executive  and  advisory  councils. 

Henry  E.  Cooper,    Andrew  Brown, 
J.  A.  McCandless,    Theodore  F.  Lansing, 
John  Emmeluth,       C.  Bolte, 
Ed.  Suhr,  Henry  Waterhouse, 

W.  C.  Wilder,  F.  W.  McChseney, 

William  O.  Smith. 


[Inclosure  z  in  No.  79.] 

Honolulu,  Hawaiian  Islands,  January  17,  1893. 

Sir  : — The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Executive  and  Advisory 
Councils  of  the  Provisional  Government  this  day  established  in 
Hawaii,  hereby  state  to  you  that  for  the  reasons  set  forth  in  the 
proclamation  this  day  issued,  a  copy  of  which  is  herewith  inclosed 
for  your  consideration,  the  Hawaiian  monarchy  has  been  abrogated 
and  a  Provisional  Government  established  in  accordance  with  the 
said  above-mentioned  proclamation. 

Such  Provisional  Government  has  been  proclaimed,  is  now  in 
possession  of  the  Government  Departmental  buildings,  the  archives 
and  the  treasury,  and  is  in  control  of  the  city.  We  hereby  request 
that  you  will,  on  behalf  the  United  States  of  America,  recognize  it 
as  the  existing  de  facto  Government  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and 
afford  to  it  the  moral  support  of  your  Government,  and,  if  neces- 


296         HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

sary,  the  support  of  American  troops  to  assist  in  preserving  the 
public  peace. 

We  have  the  honor  to  remain  your  obedient  servants, 

Sanford  B.  Dole,  J.  A.  King, 

P.  C.  Jones,  William  O.  Smith, 

S.  M.  Dawson,  John  Emmeluth, 

F.  W.  McChesney,  W.  C.  Wilder, 

J.  A.  McCandless,  Andrew  Brown, 

Jas.  F.  Morgan,  Henry  Waterhouse, 

E.  D.  TENNEY,  F.  J.  WILHELM, 

W.  G.  Ashley,  C.  Bolte. 

His  Excellency  JOHN  L.  STEVENS, 

United  States  Minister. 

The  Hawaiian  monarchy  having  practically  ceased  to 
exist  more  than  two  days  before,  the  provisional  govern- 
ment being  duly  constituted,  in  full  possession  of  the 
Hawaiian  capital  and  complete  master  of  the  political  and 
military  situation,  it  was  acknowledged  by  the  American 
Minister  as  the  de  facto  government  of  the  Hawaiian  Isl- 
ands, in  accordance  of  the  uniform  precedents  of  the 
United  States  Government  and  of  international  practice 
throughout  the  world.  The  other  foreign  representatives, 
familiar  with  all  the  facts  and  circumstances  regarding  the 
origin  of  the  provisional  government,  promptly  gave  it  a 
de  facto  acknowledgment  very  soon  after  the  United 
States  Minister  had  done  so. 

THE  RAISING  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  FLAG. 
The  raising  of  the  United  States  flag  over  the  government 


HISTORY   OF   THE    REVOLUTION.         297 

building  took  place  two  weeks  later,  and  on  that  transac- 
tion there  is  some  misapprehension,  which  time  and  the 
truth  of  history  will  fully  correct.  It  was  not  done  hastily 
nor  thoughtlessly.  It  was  done  with  all  the  serious  sense 
of  responsibility  that  the  United  States  Minister  and  Cap- 
tain Wiltse  could  command.  Captain  Wiltse  and  the 
American  Minister  were  in  complete  accord  February  first. 
Captain  Wiltse  knew  the  situation  thoroughly.  The  pro- 
visional government  made  the  request  that  the  United 
States  flag  be  raised  over  the  government  building,  and 
these  were  its  reasons:  It  had  been  created  only  two 
weeks  before.  There  were  no  trained  troops  on  the 
Island  available  for  its  use.  Many  of  the  men  in  official 
places  on  the  different  islands,  selected  under  the  mon- 
archy, often  from  palace  favorites,  had  not  been  removed, 
and  their  future  conduct  was  uncertain.  Men  from  the 
business  circles  and  occupations,  from  the  stores,  banks, 
offices,  and  workshops,  had  been  on  guard  day  and  night 
for  two  weeks,  and  business  was  suffering  from  their 
absence.  There  had  not  been  time  to  create  an  efficient 
police,  nor  to  organize  and  drill  a  small  military  force, 
which  the  public  situation  required.  In  a  city  of  twenty- 
four  thousand  people,  of  various  nationalities,  it  was  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  there  might  be  some  elements  of 
disorder.  On  the  plantations  not  far  off  and  in  the  city 
itself  there  were  believed  to  be  many  Japanese,  who  had 


298         HISTORY    OF   THE    REVOLUTION. 

served  in  their  own  army  before  tliey  came  to  Hawaii.  It 
was  feared  that  the  fallen  Liliuokalani  and  the  lottery  and 
opium  rings  around  her  would  obtain  the  assistance  of  the 
Japanese  and  other  foreigners  to  restore  her  to  the  throne, 
she  compensating  them  by  granting  them  the  right  of 
suffrage  and  other  favors  which  the  Queen  in  her  des- 
peration readily  would  have  promised  to  grant.  Fear  and 
panic  began  to  gain  headway  in  the  city.  A  riot  was 
feared.  Million:  of  American  property,  and  life  and  order 
were  imperilled,  'n  these  circumstances  the  only  sure 
hope  of  safety  was  in  the  American  naval  force  at  hand. 
Should  the  American  representative  run  the  risk  of  an- 
archy and  bloodshed  when  it  was  certain  he  would  be 
held  rigidly  responsible  if  catastrophe  and  calamity  should 
come?  It  was  this  pressure  of  necessity  which  com- 
pelled the  American  representative  to  act  with  promptness. 
These  were  the  reasons  which  led  the  provisional  govern- 
ment to  ask  American  assistance.  But  there  were  other 
potential  reasons  which  pressed  upon  the  American  Minis- 
ter. For  more  than  half  a  century  the  United  States 
Government  had  claimed  rights  and  interests  in  the  Ha- 
waiian Islands  superior  to  those  of  any  other  foreign 
nations.  Repeatedly  there  has  been  attempts  to  induce 
the  American  government  to  agree  to  dual  or  tripartite 
responsibilities  at  Honolulu.  John  M.  Clayton,  Secretary 
of  State  under  President  Taylor,  repelled  this  forty-four 


HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         299 

years  ago,  and  such  has  been  United  States  policy  since. 
It  was  well  known  to  Minister  Stevens  that  this  idea  of 
joint  action  and  responsibility  had  not  been  given  up,  but 
was  still  insisted  on  by  one,  if  not  two,  foreign  representa- 
tives at  Honolulu.  There  was  then  one  Japanese  war 
vessel  in  the  harbor,  and  another  powerful  ironclad,  larger 
than  the  "  Boston,"  had  been  telegraphed  for  at  the  time 
when  the  steamer  Claudine  sailed  with  the  Hawaiian 
Commissioners  on  their  way  to  Washington.  An  English 
war  ship  was  expected  soon  to  arriv--  The  American 
Minister  had  reasons  to  think,  and  the  provisional  govern- 
ment had  reasons  to  fear,  that  these  foreign  representatives 
would  insist  on  the  same  right  to  land  their  naval  forces 
at  Honolulu  which  the  United  States  officials  had  exercised. 
The  American  Minister  was  therefore  compelled  to 
decide  whether  he  would  risk  the  danger  of  a  practical 
abandonment  of  the  long-maintained  American  policy  of 
non-joint  responsibility  in  Hawaiian  affairs.  To  thus  sur- 
render in  practice  what  the  United  States  had  long  claimed, 
he  well  knew  would  prove  him  unfit  to  be  an  American 
representative.  Here  were  diffiiculties  which  could  be 
effectively  and  conclusively  overcome  only  in  one  way, 
that  was  by  raising  the  flag  over  the  government  build- 
ings, a  symbol  of  United  States  superior  right  to  protect 
the  Hawaiian  government  and  Hawaiian  sovereignty. 
This  would  not  only  prevent  all  the  danger  of  riot  and 


;oo 


HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 


bloodshed,  but  would  shut  out  the  landing  of  any  other 
than  the  naval  American  force.  Captain  Wiltse  saw  this 
as  soon  and  as  clearly  as  did  Minister  Stevens.  With  an 
American  heart  loyal  to  the  core,  conscientious,  firm,  self- 
possessed,  fully  aware  of  the  grave  responsibility  of  the 
act,  he  was  prompt  to  do  his  duty.  The  officers  under 
his  command  were  as  intelligent  and  loyal  as  their  own 
veteran  commander.  The  following  are  the  words  read 
by  Lieutenant  Rush  of  the  "  Boston,"  on  the  steps  of  the 
government  building  simultaneously  with  raising  the  flag, 
which  was  immediately  published  by  posters  and  in  the 
newspapers ; — 

"  TO  THE  HAWAIIAN  PEOPLE.  At  the  request  of  the  Pro- 
visional Government  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  I  hereby,  in  the  name 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  assume  protection  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  for  the  protection  of  life  and  property,  and  occupation  of 
public  buildings  and  Hawaiian  soil,  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  for 
the  purpose  specified,  but  not  interfering  with  the  administration  of 
public  affairs  by  the  Provisional  Government. 

"  This  action  is  taken  pending  and  subject  to  negotiations  at 
Washington. 

"John  L.  Stevens, 

"Envoy    Extraordinary    and    Minister    Plenipotentiary  of    the 
United  States. 

"United  States  Legation,  Feb.  i,  1893. 

"  Approved  and  executed  by 

"  G.  C.  Wiltse,  Captain  U.  S.  N., 
"  Commanding  the  United  States  ship  *  Boston.'  " 


HISTORY    OF   THE    REVOLUTION.         ^,oi 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  plain  intent  of  this  little 
document  is  non-interference  with  the  sovereignty  and 
internal  affairs  of  Hawaii— that  it  claimed  to  establish  only 
a  qualified  and  very  limited  protectorate,  and  instead  of 
infringing  on  the  sovereignty  of  the  country,  it  was  a 
response  to  the  only  government  o.f  the  Island  to  aid  in 
maintaining  Hawaiian  sovereignty.  On  the  arrival  of  the 
information  at  Washington  of  this  action  of  the  American 
representatives,  Secretary  Foster  sent  a  dispatch,  of  con- 
siderable length,  defining  how  far  the  limited  protectorate 
at  Honolulu  could  go,  and  the  conclusion  of  that  dispatch 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  was  precisely  what  President  Dole 
and  Minister  Stevens  understood  and  intended  when  the 
flag  was  raised.  During  the  entire  period  of  seventy-five 
days  the  flag  was  up,  there  was  complete  non-intervention 
by  the  American  officials  in  the  political  and  internal  affairs 
of  Hawaii.  The  salutary  effect  of  thus  raising  the  flag 
of  the  United  States  for  "the  preservation  of  public  order," 
according  to  the  terms  of  Secretary  Bayard's  dispatch  of 
July,  1887,  was  immediate  and  remarkable.  Quiet,  confi- 
dence, perfect  order  at  once  took  the  place  of  panic,  fear 
and  distrust.  Language  can  not  adequately  express  the 
ioyful  feelings  of  the  large  American  colony  and  of  all  the 
better  elements  of  the  other  nationalities.  All,  save  a 
few  sympathizers  with  our  national  rivals,  looked  on 
the  American  flag  floating  in  those  genial   skies  with 


302        HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

profound  respect.     None  more  so  than   many  native 
Hawaiians. 

The  essential  objects  to  be  accomplished  by  raising  the 
flag  of  the  United  States  were  gained  during  the  two  and 
one-half  months  its  starry  folds  were  before  the  people 
of  Hawaii.  The  Provisional  Government  had  secured  the 
necessary  time  to  organize  an  efficient  police  and  military 
force,  to  substitute  reliable  officials  in  place  of  the  unreliable, 
and  to  consolidate  the  new  government  with  the  approval 
of  the  responsible  men  of  all  the  Islands.  Hawaii  now 
has  the  best  government  she  has  ever  had,  administered 
by  men  of  intelligence,  education  and  character,  and  as 
thoroughly  American  in  sympathy  and  interest  as  we  have 
at  the  head  of  any  of  our  American  States  and  territories. 
That  government  and  those  back  of  it — nearly  all  the 
responsible  and  best  citizens  of  the  Islands — ask  for  the 
annexation  of  Hawaii  as  a  territory  of  the  United  States. 
This  is  desired  because  it  is  believed  to  be  best  for  the 
native  as  well  as  the  foreign-born  population  of  the 
Island.  The  Hawaiian  monarchy  for  twenty  years  had 
been  especially  injurious  to  the  welfare  of  the  native  Ha- 
waiians. The  government  and  those  supporting  it  desire 
annexation,  because  they  justly  regard  present  Hawaii  in 
reality  an  American  colony,  closely  identified  with  American 
interests  and  governed  by  American  ideas,  American  laws 
and  American  judicial  rules  and  decisions.     In  reporting  the 


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HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION.  305 

treaty  of  annexation,  February,  1893,  the  Senate  Committee 
of  Foreign  Affairs  acted  as  American  statesmen  in  dealing 
with  facts,  events  and  interests  as  they  found  them.  They 
came  to  the  same  conclusion  as  did  the  Democratic  admin- 
istration in  1854,  when  Secretary  Wm.  L  Marcy  authorized 
Commissioner  Gregg  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  annexation, 
which  that  Commissioner  did  negotiate,  though  he  exceeded 
his  instructions  as  to  the  provisions  of  the  treaty.  The 
treaty  of  18^4  failed  through  divided  counsels  at  Honolulu. 

Marcy,  the  able  Democratic  leader  of  his  time,  a  cool, 
sagacious  statesman,  in  a  dispatch  to  United  States  Min- 
ister Mason,  at  Paris.  December  16,  18^1,  speaking  of  the 
Hawaii  Islands,  said  : — 

•'Both  England  and  France  are  apprised  of  our  deter- 
mination not  to  allow  them  to  be  owned  by,  or  to  fall 
under  the  protection  of,  either  ot  these  powers  or  of  any 
other  European  nation." 

Luther  Severance,  an  able,  safe,  and  sagacious  man, 
well  known  to  the  country  in  his  time,  whom  Daniel 
Webster  honored,  after  four  years'  residence  at  Honolulu, 
came  to  the  same  conclusion  as  did  Secretary  Marcy.  As 
far  back  as  June,  1843,  Secretary  of  State  H,  S.  Legare,  in 
a  dispatch  to  Edward  Everett,  United  States  Minister  at 
London,  placed  nearly  as  high  an  estimate  of  the  value  of 
the  ultimate  American  possession  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands; 
he  used  this  language : — 


3o6        HISTORY   OF   THE    REVOLUTION. 

"  If  the  attempts  now  making  by  ourselves,  as  well  as  by  other 
Christian  powers,  to  open  the  markets  of  China  to  a  more  general 
commerce  be  successful,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  a  great  part 
of  that  commerce  will  find  its  way  over  the  Isthmus.  In  that  event 
it  will  be  impossible  to  overrate  the  importance  of  the  Hawaiian 
group  as  a  stage  in  the  long  voyage  between  Asia  and  America. 
But  without  anticipating  events  which,  however,  seem  inevitable, 
and  even  approaching  the  actual  demands  of  an  immense  navigation, 
make  the  free  use  of  those  roadsteads  and  ports  indispensable  to  us. 
1  need  not  remind  you,  who  are  in  so  peculiar  manner  related  to 
that  most  important  interest,  commercial  and  political,  that  our  great 
nursery  of  seamen,  the  whale  fishery,  has  for  years  past  made  this 
cluster  of  islands  its  rendezvous  and  resting-place.  It  seems  doubt- 
ful whether  even  the  undisputed  possession  of  the  Oregon  Territory 
and  the  use  of  the  Columbia  River,  or  indeed,  anything  short  of  the 
acquisition  of  California  (if  that  were  possible),  would  be  sufificient 
indemnity  to  us  for  the  loss  of  these  harbors." 

These  views  of  Legare,  Marcy,  and  other  distinguished 
statesmen,  were  fully  shared  by  Wm.  H.  Seward,  who 
had  remarkable  foresight  as  to  the  vast  future  of  American 
commerce  in  the  Pacific,  and  looked  forward  to  the  an- 
nexation of  Hawaii  as  necessary  and  inevitable,  and  would 
have  urged  it  during  his  occupancy  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment had  he  found  the  Honolulu  authorities  ready  for  it. 
Under  the  date  of  Sept.  12,  1867,  in  a  dispatch  to  United 
States  Minister  McCook  at  Honolulu,  Secretary  Seward 
wrote  as  follows : — 

"You  will  be  governed  in  all  your  proceedings  by  a  proper 
respect  and  courtesy  to  the  Government  and  people  of  the  Sandwich 


b 


HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         307 

islands ;  but  it  is  proper  that  you  should  know,  for  your  own 
liiformation,  that  a  lawful  and  peaceful  annexation  of  the  Islands  to 
the  United  States,  with  the  consent  of  the  people  of  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  is  deemed  desirable  by  this  Government ;  and  that  if  the 
policy  of  annexation  should  really  conflict  with  the  policy  of  reci- 
procity, annexation  is  in  every  case  to  be  preferred. 

"  The  bearer  of  this  communication  will  remain  for  the  present 
at  Honolulu,  and  will  conform  himself  in  his  proceedings  there  to 
your  advice,  co-operating  with  you  confidentially ;  and  you  will 
exercise  your  own  discretion  how  far  it  may  be  necessary  and  when 
to  instruct  him  in  any  of  the  matters  contained  in  this  dispatch. 

"I  am,  etc.,  WILLIAM  H.  Seward." 

in  his  annual  message  to  Congress,  December  9,  1868, 
President  Johnson  said : — 

*'  It  is  known  and  felt  by  the  Hawaiian  Government  and  people 
that  their  Government  and  institutions  are  feeble  and  precarious ; 
that  the  United  States,  being  so  near  a  neighbor,  would  be  unwill- 
ing to  see  the  Islands  pass  under  foreign  control.  Their  prosperity 
is  continually  disturbed  by  expectations  and  alarms  of  unfriendly 
political  proceedings,  as  well  from  the  United  States  as  from  other 
foreign  powers.  A  reciprocity  treaty,  while  it  could  not  materially 
diminish  the  revenues  of  the  United  States,  would  be  a  guaranty  of 
the  good-will  and  forbearance  of  all  nations  until  the  people  of  the 
Islands  shall  of  themselves,  at  no  distant  day,  voluntarily  apply  for 
admission  into  the  Union." 

This  passage  in  the  message  of  the  President  was 
undoubtedly  written  by  Secretary  Seward. 

None  have  defended  these  views  more  ably  than 
James  G.  Blaine,  in  a  remarkable  state  paper  during 
President  Garfield's  Administration.     In  another  dispatch. 


3o8         HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

of  Dec.  I,  1 88 1,  to  United  States  Minister  Comly  at  Hono- 
lulu, Secretary  Blaine  said: — 

"  The  decline  of  the  native  Hawaiian  element  in  the  presence  of 
newer  and  sturdier  growths  must  be  accepted  as  an  inevitable  fact, 
in  view  of  the  teachings  of  ethnological  history.  And  as  retrogres- 
sion in  the  development  of  the  Islands  can  not  be  admitted  without 
serious  detriment  to  American  interests  in  the  North  Pacific,  the 
problem  of  a  replenishment  of  the  vital  forces  of  Hawaii  presents 
itself  for  intelligent  solution  in  an  American  sense — not  in  an  Asiatic 
or  a  British  sense. 

"  There  is  little  doubt  that,  were  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  by 
annexation  or  district  protection,  a  part  of  the  territory  of  the  Union, 
their  fertile  resources  for  the  growth  of  rice  and  sugar  would  not 
only  be  controlled  by  American  capital,  but  so  profitable  a  field  of 
labor  would  attract  intelligent  workers  thither  from  the  United 
States." 

None  have  advocated  the  value  of  Hawaii  to  the 
United  States  more  eloquently  than  John  T.  Morgan,  the 
able  Chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
who  sees  clearly  the  immense  importance  of  future  Amer- 
ican interests  in  the  Pacific. 

The  history  of  nations  conclusively  shows  what  the 
ablest  expounders  of  international  law  plainly  teach,  that 
the  annexation  of  foreign  territory  is  an  act  of  national 
sovereignty.  This  inherent,  primal  power  of  a  nation  ex- 
ists outside  of  and  independent  of  the  written  constitutioa 
Every  nation  capable  of  maintaining  its  independence 
against  internal  and  foreign  attacks,  is  the  master  of  its  own 


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HISTORY   OF   THE   REVOLUTION.         311 

sovereignty  and  never  abdicates  it  by  any  recorded  formu- 
lary. The  assumption  of  construing  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  to  be  supreme  against  our  national  life, 
prosperity  and  absolutely  independent  authority,  will  never 
be  admitted  by  patriotic  Americans,  nor  by  sagacious 
American  statesmen.  The  opposition  to  the  annexation  of 
Hawaii  by  a  special  school  of  legal  writers,  is  only  a  repe- 
tition of  what  has  repeatedly  occurred  in  American  history 
since  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution.  President 
Jefferson  and  those  associated  with  him  in  acquiring  the 
extensive  territory  of  Louisiana,  was  obliged  to  confront 
this  theory  of  the  superiority  of  the  constitution  to  national 
sovereignty.  Though  he  was  a  strict  constructionist  of  the 
constitution  against  the  views  of  the  school  of  Washington 
and  Hamilton,  he  held  the  law  of  the  nation's  life  to  be 
supreme,  and  he  promptly  authorized  the  purchase  of  the 
vast  domain,  for  fifteen  millions  of  dollars,  at  the  risk  of  a 
war  with  Spain  and  the  threatened  opposition  of  Great 
Britain.  Equally  strong  constitutional  objections  were 
made  to  the  acquisition  of  Texas,  California,  New  Mexico 
and  Alaska,  which  annexations  were  approved  by  the  great 
statesmen  of  the  Democratic,  Whig,  and  Republican 
schools.  The  acquisition  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  by  the 
United  States  is  plainly  a  national  necessity  and  a  national 
duty.  Does  any  thoughtful  American  citizen  really  believe 
tnat  the  American  nation,  planted  between  the  two  great 


312         HISTORY    OF   THE   REVOLUTION. 

oceans,  on  a  broad,  sure  base,  such  as  no  other  nation  in 
the  world  ever  occupied,  with  its  immense  resources  to 
feed  the  world's  commerce,  is  to  be  shut  up  within  its 
present  boundaries?  Those  who  have  made  history  a 
serious  study  and  understand  the  force  of  its  irresistible 
logic,  can  not  hold  this  restricted  theory.  To  make  sale  of 
the  enormous  surplus  products  of  their  mines,  their  spin- 
dles, of  their  countless  forms  of  machinery.  American 
merchants  and  American  ships  must  go  abroad  with  all  the 
agencies  of  a  mighty  commerce — a  commerce  which  will 
dwarf  in  extent  the  combined  trade  of  ancient  Tyre  and 
Caithage,  and  of  modern  Great  Britain. 

This  rich  prize  is  now  freely  offered  to  the  Unitea 
States.  It  can  not  be  possible  that  the  American  people 
and  the  American  statesmen  will  refuse  to  accept  it.  To 
spurn  and  reject  this  important  and  thoroughly  American 
colony,  planted  by  some  of  the  most  devoted  of  Ameri- 
can sons  and  daughters,  fostered  by  American  benevo- 
lence and  sympathy,  aided  by  a  million  dollars  of  private 
contributions,  encouraged  for  more  than  sixty  years  by 
the  American  government — to  abandon  the  people  of  this 
colony  now  at  this  crucial  period  of  their  history  would  be 
cowardice  and  inhumanity,  which  no  self-respecting  Chris- 
tian nation  will  be  guilty  of,  the  least  of  all  the  great  Amer- 
ican nation,  whose  vast  opportunity  in  the  North  Pacific,  it 
would  be  a  great  want  of  wisdom  and  patriotism  to  ignore. 


EFFORT    TO    RESTORE     LILIUOKALANI.      IGNO- 
MINIOUS   FAILURE.      PROVISIONAL   GOV- 
ERNMENT STRONGER. 

There  are  in  the  history  of  human  affairs  many  strange 
things,  of  whose  causes  and  objects  it  is  difficult  to  ac- 
count on  any  reasonable  hypothesis.  History  is  said  to 
be  philosophy  speaking  by  example.  If  this  be  a  sound 
axiom,  there  is  certainly  some  very  peculiar  philosophy  in 
this  world.  To  an  American — to  any  enlightened  person 
of  the  present  century  of  intelligence — the  piece  of  history 
disclosed  by  the  official  documents  which  make  the  most 
of  this  chapter,  must  seem  as  absurd,  if  not  as  astonishing, 
as  anything  in  the  Arabian  Nights  or  in  the  romance  of 
Don  Quixote.  President  Cleveland  had  been  in  the  ex- 
ecutive chair  only  three  days,  nearly  every  hour  of  which 
had  been  occupied  by  the  customary  inaugural  routine, 
without  having  had  time  to  inform  himself  of  the  official 
data  on  file  at  the  State  Department  and  in  possession  of 
the  Foreign  Relations  Committee  of  the  Senate,  when  he 
had  resolved  to  reverse  the  policy  of  his  predecessors 
toward  Hawaii,  and  to  restore  the  little  monarchy,  which 

313 


314    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

the  responsible  citizens  of  the  Islands  had  found  it 
absolutely  necessary  to  abolish.  Finding  in  Walter  Q. 
Gresham,  his  Secretary  of  State,  one  fully  sharing  his 
views,  the  President  appointed  Col.  James  H.  Blount,  of 
Georgia,  to  go  to  Honolulu  to  make  out  a  case  against  the 
Provisional  Government  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  the 
restoration  of  the  dethroned  Liliuokalani.  Though  the 
Senate  was  then  in  session,  and  the  majority  of  that  body 
were  well  informed  as  to  the  state  of  things  in  Hawaii, 
and  the  causes  and  justifications  of  the  recent  change  in  its 
government,  the  President  did  not  take  the  Senate  into  his 
counsel,  nor  submit  the  appointment  of  Col.  Blount  to  its 
approval.  An  unauthorized  power  was  given  the  Presi- 
dent's Commissioner  to  outrank  and  command  the  United 
States  Minister  Plenipotentiary  and  the  Admiral  then  on 
duty  at  Honolulu.  Arriving  at  the  Hawaiian  capital  late  in 
March,  1893,  Col.  Blount  immediately  showed  his  strong 
prejudices  against  the  course  of  the  Harrison  Administra- 
tion, and  the  officials  who  had  been  on  duty  at  Honolulu 
during  the  exciting  and  eventful  days  of  January  and 
February.  Though  advised  by  highly  respected  Americans, 
living  in  Honolulu,  to  take  his  quarters  where  both  the 
friends  of  the  Provisional  Government  and  the  supporters 
of  the  fallen  monarchy  could  have  equally  ready  access 
to  him,  he  elected  to  go  to  the  hotel  which  had  long 
been  the  royalist's  headquarters,  whose  managers  were 


HUN.  LORRIN  A.  THURSTON,  Hawaiian  Minister  at  Washington,  is  a  grand- 
son of  one  ot  tiie  pioneer  missionaries  to  Hawaii.  He  is  a  lawyer  and  a  graduate 
of  the  Columbia  Law  School.  During  the  early  struggles  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  King  Kalakaua,  Mr.  Thurston  edited  one  of  the  Honolulu  daily  papers, 
and  was  influential  in  crystallizing  public  sentiment. 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  317 

thoroughly  anti-American  in  their  prejudices  and  plans, 
and  where  monarchical  espionage  of  the  newly-arrived 
Commissioner  and  those  who  called  upon  him,  would  be 
complete.  Thus  surrounded,  Special  Commissioner  Blount 
turned  a  cold  shoulder  to  his  own  respectable  countrymen 
and  took  ex-parte  testimony  from  the  supporters  of  the 
fallen  monarchy,  those  who  had  shared  in  its  moral  and 
financial  abuses,  and  who  were  eager  to  give  any  testi- 
mony that  might  aid  in  the  already  matured  scheme  to 
restore  the  fallen  Liliuokalani  and  the  lottery  and  opium 
rings,  who  had  encouraged  her  in  the  official  infamy 
which  had  ended  in  her  revolutionary  attempt  to  over- 
throw the  Hawaiian  Constitution  and  led  to  her  irrevocable 
downfall.  In  this  wholly  one-sided  and  partisan  manner 
Mr.  Blount  obtained  his  data  for  the  extraordinary  report 
on  which  was  based  the  extraordinary  plan  of  President 
Cleveland  and  Secretary  Gresham,  to  restore  the  semi- 
barbaric  Queen  and  her  palace  favorite,  Wilson,  to  rule 
over  an  intelligent  and  patriotic  American  colony,  and 
those  of  other  nationalities  who  are  in  full  accord  in 
spirit  and  purpose  with  that  colony  in  supporting  the 
Provisional  Government  and  in  seeking  commercial  and 
political  union  with  the  United  States.  How  signally 
failed  this  astonishing  design  of  restoring  the  justly 
dethroned  monarch,  is  plainly  told  in  the  following  official 
documents,  which  complete  this  chapter  of  Hawaiian 


3i8    EFFORT   TO    RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

history.  One  compensation  to  the  anxious  and  uii'eal 
ened  American  colony  is,  that  the  attempt  to  discredit  and 
destroy  the  Provisional  Government  has  greatly  strength- 
ened its  cause  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and  its  brave 
supporters  know  now  that  they  have  the  earnest  and 
active  sympathy  of  a  majority  of  the  American  people, 
and  that  their  future  destiny  as  a  part  of  the  American 
Union  is  sure.  Another  evidence  that  everything  valuable 
in  civilization  and  in  government  comes  through  trial  and 
sacrifice. 

There  appears  below  the  text  of  the  address  of  the 
United  States  Minister  Albert  S.  Willis  to  the  President  of 
the  Provisional  Government  of  Hawaii  on  the  occasion  of 
his  first  official  visit  to  the  Hawaiian  Executive ;  the  reply 
of  President  Sanford  P.  Dole  to  that  address ;  the  letter  of 
credence  then  presented  by  Minister  Willis  and  the  corre- 
spondence preceding  and  covering  the  demands  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States  made  through  his  Envoy 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  19th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1893,  upon  the  Hawaiian  Government. 

MINISTER    WILLIS'    REMARKS 

Upon  the  Presentation  of  his  Credentials  to  the  Provisional 

Government. 

Mr.  President : — Mr.  Blount,  the  late  Envoy  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  to  your  Government, 
having  resigned  his  office  when  absent  from  his  post,  I  have  the 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 


19 


honor  now  to  present  his  letter  of  recall,  and  to  express  for  him  his 
sincere  regret  that  he  is  unable  in  person  to  make  known  his  con- 
tinued good  wishes  in  behalf  of  your  people,  and  his  grateful  appre- 
ciation of  the  many  courtesies,  both  personal  and  official,  of  which, 
while  here,  he  was  the  honored  recipient. 

I  desire  at  the  same  time  to  place  in  your  hands  the  letter 
accrediting  me  as  his  successor.  In  doing  this  I  am  directed  by  the 
President  to  give  renewed  assurances  of  the  friendship,  interest  and 
hearty  good-will  which  our  Government  entertains  for  you  and  for 
the  people  of  this  Island  realm. 

Aside  from  our  geographical  proximity  and  the  consequent  pre- 
ponderating commercial  interests  which  center  here,  the  present 
advanced  civilization  and  Christianization  of  your  people,  together 
with  your  enlightened  codes  of  law,  stand  to-day  beneficent  monu- 
ments of  American  zeal,  courage  and  intelligence. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  United  States  were  the 
first  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  to 
welcome  them  into  the  great  family  of  free,  equal  and  sovereign 
nations,  nor  is  it  surprising  that  this  historic  tie  has  been  strength- 
ened from  year  to  year,  by  important  mutual  reciprocities  and  agree- 
ments, alike  honorable  and  advantageous  to  both  Governments. 

Invoking  that  spirit  of  peace,  friendship  and  hospitality  which 
has  ever  been  the  shield  and  sword  of  this  country,  I  now,  upon 
behalf  of  the  United  States  of  America,  tender  to  your  people  the 
right  hand  of  good-will,  which  I  trust  may  be  as  lasting  as  I  know 
it  to  be  sincere,  expressing  the  hope  that  every  year  will  promote 
and  perpetuate  that  good-will  to  the  honor,  happiness  and  prosperity 
of  both  Governments. 

President  Dole's  Remarks. — President  Dole  replied,  reading 
from  manuscript  in  the  language  following: — 

Mr.  Minister: — It  is  with  much  satisfaction  that  I  receive  the 
credentials  you  bring  from  His  Excellency  the  President  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  accrediting  you  as  Envoy  Extraordinary 


320    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  to  represent  that  country  at  the  capital 
or  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

Your  assurances  of  the  continued  friendship  of  your  Govern- 
ment for  me  and  the  Hawaiian  people  add  to  the  gratification  which 
a  long  experience  of  the  generous  consideration  of  the  United  States 
for  this  country  has  fostered. 

Permit  me  to  assure  you  that  we  heartily  reciprocate  the  expres- 
sion of  interest  and  good-will  which  you,  on  behalf  of  the  American 
people,  have  conveyed  to  us. 

Partly  from  proximity,  partly  from  the  leading  influence  of 
American  citizens  in  the  work  of  inaugurating  Christian  civilization 
and  industrial  enterprise  in  these  islands,  but  still  more  from  the 
repeated  acts  of  friendly  assistance  which  we  have  received  from 
your  Government  during  the  past  half  century,  we  have  become 
accustomed  to  regard  the  United  States  as  a  friend  and  ally,  and 
have  learned  to  look  first  to  her  for  help  in  our  emergencies. 

I  regret  the  inability  of  your  predecessor,  Mr.  Blount,  to  person- 
ally present  his  letter  of  recall  and  to  afford  me  the  opportunity  to 
express  to  him  my  appreciation  of  the  agreeable  official  and  social 
relations  that  existed  between  him  and  our  Government  and  people 
during  his  residence  here. 

We  congratulate  ourselves,  Mr.  Minister,  that  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  is  to  be  represented  by  one  who,  we  are 
assured,  is  familiar  with  the  questions  arising  from  the  relations 
between  the  two  Governments,  and  with  whom  we  look  for  the 
maintenance  of  pleasant  official  intercourse. 


LETTER   OF   CREDENCE. 

GROVER  Cleveland,  President  of  the  United  States  of  America, 

To  His  Excellency,  Sanford  B.  DOLE,  President  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment of  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

Great  and  Good  Friend :  I  have  made  choice  of  Albert  S.  Willis, 

one  of  our  distinguished  citizens,  to  reside  near  the  Government  of 


EFFORT   TO    RESTORE    LILIUOKALANI.  321 

Your  Excellency  in  the  quality  of  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

He  is  well  informed  of  the  relative  interests  of  the  two  countries, 
and  of  our  sincere  desire  to  cultivate  to  the  fullest  extent  the 
friendship  which  has  so  long  subsisted  between  us.  My  knowledge 
of  his  high  character  and  ability  gives  me  entire  confidence  that  he 
will  constantly  endeavor  to  advance  the  interest  and  prosperity  of 
both  Governments,  and  so  render  himself  acceptable  to  Your  Excel- 
lency. 

I  therefore  request  Your  Excellency  to  receive  him  favorably  and 
to  give  full  credence  to  what  he  shall  say  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  the  assurances  which  I  have  charged  him  to  convey 
to  you  of  the  best  wishes  of  this  Government  for  the  prosperity  of 
the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

May  God  have  Your  Excellency  in  His  wise  keeping. 

Written  at  Washington  this  twenty-seventh  day  of  September, 

in  the  year  1893. 

Your  good  friend,  GROVER  CLEVELAND. 

By  the  President. 

ALVEY  A.  ADEE,  Acting  Secretary  of  State. 


PRELIMINARY   CORRESPONDENCE. 

Department  of  Foreign  Affairs, 

Honolulu,  November  29,  1893. 

Sir: — Having  received  from  our  Minister  at  Washington,  Hon. 
Lorrin  A.  Thurston,  accredited  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  information  of  an  official  letter  from  Secretary  of 
State,  Hon.  Walter  Q.  Gresham,  to  President  Cleveland,  which  is 
of  an  unfriendly  nature  towards  this  Government,  recommending 
hostile  action  by  the  President  toward  us,  alleged  copies  of  which 
letter  have  been  published  in  the  American  press  ;  I  desire  to  inquire 
of  you  whether  the  published  reports  of  such  letter  of  Secretary 


3 


12    EFFORT   TO    RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 


Gresham  are  substantially  correct  ?  If  they  are,  I  feel  that  it  is  due 
this  Government  that  it  should  be  informed  of  the  intentions  of 
your  Government  in  relation  to  the  suggestion  contained  in  the  said 
letter  of  Mr.  Gresham. 

Accept  the  assurance  of  the  profound  consideration  and   high 
esteem  with  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  Your  Excellency's 

Most  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  SanfORD  B.  DOLE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

His  Excellency  ALBERT  S.  WiLLlS,  U.  S.  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary,  Honolulu. 


Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Honolulu,  December  2,  1893. 

Sir : — I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  note 
of  the  29th  ult.,  inquiring  as  to  the  authenticity  of  a  letter  of  Hon. 
W.  Q.  Gresham,  Secretary  of  State,  upon  the  Hawaiian  question ; 
and  stating  that  if  the  "published  reports  of  such  letter  are  sub- 
stantially correct"  you  "feel  that  it  is  due  this  (your)  Govern- 
ment 'that  it  should  be  informed  of  the  intentions  of  your  (my) 
Government  in  relation  to  the  suggestions  contained  in  the  said 
letter  of  Mr.  Gresham.'  " 

As  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Gresham  I  have  the  honor  to  call  your 
attention  to  the  fact,  as  shown  by  you,  that  it  is  a  communication 
from  a  member  of  the  Cabinet  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and,  being  a  domestic  transaction,  is  not  the  subject  of  diplomatic 
representation. 

Answering  your  note  further,  I  must  express  my  sincere  regret 
that  it  is  not  in  my  power  at  present  to  inform  you  of  the  views  or 
intentions  of  the  United  States.  The  President  earnestly  desires  a 
speedy  settlement  of   your  troubles,  and  will,  in  my  opinion,  be 


EFFORT   TO    RESIORE    LILIUOKALANI.  323 

ready  to  make  known  his  purposes  as  soon  as  he  is  informed  of  cer- 
tain matters  recently  submitted  to  him.     With  high  regard,  I  am 

Very  respectfully, 
(Signed)  ALBERT  S.  WILLIS, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  U.  S.  A. 

Hon.  SANFORD  B.  Dole,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 


Department  of  Foreign  Affairs, 

Honolulu,  December  18,  1893. 

Sir : — I  am  informed  that  you  are  in  communication  with  Liliuo- 
kalani,  the  ex-Queen,  with  a  view  of  re-establishing  the  monarchy 
in  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  and  of  supporting  her  pretension6  to  the 
sovereignty.  Will  you  inform  me  if  this  report  is  true,  or  if  you  are 
acting  in  any  way  hostile  to  this  Government  ? 

I  appreciate  fully  the  fact  that  any  such  action  upon  your  part, 
in  view  of  your  official  relations  with  this  Government,  would  seem 
impossible ;  but  as  the  information  has  come  to  me  from  such 
sources  that  I  am  compelled  to  notice  it,  you  will  pardon  me  for 
pressing  you  for  an  immediate  answer. 

Accept  the  assurance  of  distinguished  consideration,  with  which 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir, 

Your  Excellency's  obedient  humble  servant, 

(Signed)  SanFORD  B.  DOLE, 

Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

His  Excellency,  ALBERT  S.  WILLIS,  U.  S.  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary,  Honolulu. 


Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Honolulu,  Dec.  19,  1893. 
Sir: — I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  have  a  communica- 
tion from  my  Government  which  I  desire  to  submit  to  the  President 


"2  '> 


24    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE    LILIUOKALANI. 


and  Ministers  of  your  Government  at  any  hour  to-day  which  it  may 
please  you  to  designate. 

With  high  regard  and  sincere  respect,  I  am,  Sir, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  ALBERT  S.  WILLIS, 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  U.  S.  A. 
Hon.  SaNFORD  B.  Dole,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 


THE   INTERVIEW   AND   DEMAND. 

Foreign  Office, 
Honolulu,  December  19,  1893. 

Present : — President,  Sanford  B.  Dole  ;  Hon.  S.  M.  Damon,  Min- 
ister of  Finance  ;  Hon.  J.  A.  King,  Minister  of  Interior ;  Hon.  W.  O. 
Smith,  Attorney-General ;  Hon.  Albert  S.  Willis,  Envoy  Extraordi- 
nary and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  U.  S.  A. 

Mr.  Willis  :  Will  Mr.  Jones  be  present  at  this  interview  ? 

President  Dole  :  We  wish  to  have  him  present,  if  you  have 
no  objection. 

Mr.  Willis  :  Is  he  a  stenographer  ? 

President  Dole  :  Yes,  sir. 

Mr.  Willis  :  No  objection  at  all. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen : — The  President  of  the  United 
States  has  very  much  regretted  the  delay  in  the  Hawaiian  question, 
but  it  has  been  unavoidable.  So  much  of  it  as  has  occurred  since 
my  arrival  has  been  due  to  certain  conditions  precedent,  compliance 
with  which  was  required  before  I  was  authorized  to  confer  with  you. 
The  President  also  regrets,  as  most  assuredly  do  I,  that  any  secrecy 
should  have  surrounded  the  interchange  of  views  between  our  two 
Governments.  I  may  say  this,  however,  that  the  secrecy  thus  far 
observed  has  been  in  the  interest  and  for  the  safety  of  all  your 
people.  I  need  hardly  premise  that  the  President's  action  upon  the 
Hawaiian  question  has  been  under  the  dictates  of  honor  and  duty  ; 


PROF.  W.  B.  ALEXANDER,  the  son  of  an  American  Missionary  is  Uie  bur 
veyor  General  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  He  was  born  at  the  Islands,  but  was 
educated  at  Yale  College.  He  was  for  seven  years  President  of  Oahu  College  at 
Honolulu,  resigning  to  accept  the  position  he  now  holds.  He  is  the  acknowleJir-  I 
authority  in  historical,  antiquarian  and  scientific  matters  pertaining   to   lla\\;:ii. 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  327 

it  is  now,  and  has  been  from  the  beginning,  absolutely  free  from 
prejudice  and  resentment  and  entirely  consistent  with  the  long- 
established  friendship  and  treaty  ties  which  have  so  closely  bound 
together  our  respective  Governments. 

The  President  deemed  it  his  duty  to  withdraw  from  the  Senate 
the  treaty  of  annexation,  which  has  been  signed  by  the  Secretary 
of  State  and  the  agents  of  your  Government,  and  to  dispatch  a 
trusted  representative  to  Hawaii  to  impartially  investigate  the  causes 
of  your  revolution  and  to  ascertain  and  report  the  true  situation  in 
these  Islands.  This  information  was  needed  the  better  to  enable 
the  President  to  discharge  a  delicate  and  important  duty. 

Upon  the  facts  embodied  in  Mr.  Blount's  reports,  the  President 
has  arrived  at  certain  conclusions  and  determined  upon  a  certain 
course  of  action,  with  which  it  becomes  my  duty  to  acquaint  you  : — 

The  Provisional  Government  was  not  established  by  the  Ha- 
waiian people  or  with  their  consent  or  acquiescence,  nor  has  it  since 
existed  with  their  consent. 

The  Queen  refused  to  surrender  her  powers  to  the  Provisional 
Government  until  convinced  that  the  Minister  of  the  United  States 
had  recognized  it  as  the  de  facto  authority  and  would  support  and 
defend  it  with  the  military  force  of  the  United  States,  and  that 
resistance  would  precipitate  a  bloody  conflict  with  that  force. 

She  was  advised  and  assured  by  her  Ministers  and  leaders  of 
the  movement  for  the  overthrow  of  her  Government  that  if  she 
surrendered  under  protest  her  case  would  afterwards  be  fairly  con- 
sidered by  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Queen  finally  yielded  to  the  armed  forces  of  the  United 
States,  then  quartered  in  Honolulu,  relying  on  the  good  faith  and 
honor  of  the  President,  when  informed  of  what  had  occurred,  to 
undo  the  action  of  the  Minister  and  reinstate  her  and  the  authority 
which  she  claimed  as  the  constitutional  sovereign  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands. 

After  a  patient  examination  of  Mr.  Blount's  reports  the  President 


328    EFFORT  TO   RESTORE    LILIUOKALANI. 

is  satisfied  that  tfie  movement  against  tlie  Queen,  if  not  instigated, 
was  encouraged  and  supported  by  tlie  representative  of  this  Gov- 
ernment at  Honolulu  ;  that  he  promised  in  advance  to  aid  her 
enemies  in  an  effort  to  overthrow  the  Hawaiian  Government  and 
set  up  by  force  a  new  Government  in  its  place,  and  that  he  kept 
this  promise  by  causing  a  detachment  of  troops  to  be  landed  from 
the  "  Boston  "  on  the  i6th  of  January,  1893,  and  by  recognizing  the 
Provisional  Government  the  next  day,  when  it  was  too  feeble  to 
defend  itself,  and  the  Constitutional  Government  was  able  to  suc- 
cessfully maintain  its  authority  against  any  threatening  force  other 
than  that  of  the  United  States  already  landed. 

The  President  has,  therefore,  determined  that  he  will  not  send 
back  to  the  Senate  for  its  action  thereon,  the  treaty  which  he  with- 
drew from  that  body  for  further  consideration,  on  the  ninth  day  of 
March  last. 

In  view  of  these  conclusions  I  was  instructed  by  the  President 
to  take  advantage  of  an  early  opportunity  to  inform  the  Queen  of 
this  determination  and  of  his  views  as  to  the  responsibility  of  our 
Government.  The  President,  however,  felt  that  we  by  our  original 
interference  had  incurred  responsibility  to  the  whole  Hawaiian  com- 
munity, and  that  it  would  not  be  just  to  put  one  party  at  the  mercy 
of  the  other.  I  was,  therefore,  instructed  at  the  same  time  to  inform 
the  Queen  that  when  reinstated  the  President  expected  that  she 
would  pursue  a  magnanimous  course  by  granting  full  amnesty  to 
all  who  participated  in  the  movement  against  her,  including  per- 
sons who  are,  or  who  have  been,  officially  or  otherwise  connected 
with  the  Provisional  Government,  depriving  them  of  no  right  or 
privilege  which  they  enjoyed  before  the  revolution  of  last  January, 
and  that  all  obligations  created  by  the  Provisional  Government  in 
due  course  of  administration  should  be  assumed. 

In  obedience  to  the  command  of  the  President  I  have  secured 
the  Queen's  agreement  to  this  course,  and  I  now  deliver  a  writing 
signed  by  her  and  duly  attested,  a  copy  of  which  I  will  leave  with 


EFFORT   TO    RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  329 

you.     I  will  now  read  that  writing.     I  will  read  from  the  original, 
leaving  with  you  a  certified  copy  : — 

"  I,  Liliuokalani,  in  recognition  of  the  high  sense  of  justice 
which  has  actuated  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and  desiring 
to  put  aside  all  feeling  of  personal  hatred  or  revenge,  and  to  do  what 
is  best  for  all  the  people  on  these  Islands,  both  native  and  foreign- 
born,  do  hereby  and  herein  solemnly  declare  and  pledge  myself  that 
if  reinstated  as  the  constitutional  sovereign  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 
that  I  will  immediately  proclaim  and  declare  unconditionally  and 
without  reservation  to  every  person  who  directly  or  indirectly  par- 
ticipated in  the  revolution  of  January  17,  1893,  a  full  pardon  and 
amnesty  for  their  offenses  with  restoration  of  all  rights  and  immu- 
nities under  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  which  have  been  made 
in  pursuance  thereof,  and  that  I  will  forbid  and  prevent  the  adoption 
of  any  measures  of  prosecution  or  punishment  for  what  has  been 
done  in  the  past  by  those  setting  up  or  supporting  the  Provisional 
Government. 

"  1  further  solemnly  agree  to  accept  the  restoration  under  the 
Constitution  existing  at  the  time  of  the  said  revolution,  and  that  I 
will  abide  by  and  fully  execute  that  Constitution  with  all  the  guar- 
antees as  to  person  and  property  therein  contained. 

"  I  furthermore  solemnly  pledge  myself  and  my  Government,  if 
restored,  to  assure  all  the  obligations  created  by  the  Provisional  Gov- 
ernment in  the  proper  course  of  administration,  including  all  expen- 
ditures for  military  and  police  service ;  it  being  my  purpose,  if 
reinstated,  to  assume  the  Government  precisely  as  it  existed  on  the 
day  when  it  was  unlawfully  overthrown. 

"Witness  my  hand  this  eighteenth  day  of  December,  1893. 

"  Liliuokalani. 

"Attest:  J.  O.  CARTER." 

It  becomes  my  further  duty  to  advise  you.  Sir,  the  Executive  of 
the  Provisional  Government  and  your  Ministers,  of  the  President's 


330    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

determination  of  the  question  which  your  action  and  that  of  the 
Queen  devolved  upon  him,  and  that  your  are  expected  to  promptly 
relinquish  to  her  her  constitutional  authority.  And  now,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent and  Gentlemen  of  the  Provisional  Government,  with  a  deep^ 
and  solemn  sense  of  the  situation  and  with  the  earnest  hope  that 
your  answer  will  be  inspired  by  that  high  patriotism  which  forgets 
all  self-interest,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  I  submit  to  you  the  question  :  Are  you  willing  to 
abide  by  the  decision  of  the  President  ? 

I  will  leave  this  with  you  Mr.  President,  as  your  stenographer 
may  not  have  got  every  word  and  it  may  help  him.  I  will  also 
leave  the  certified  copy  that  I  referred  to,  the  agreement  of  the 
Queen. 

President  Dole  :  The  Government  will  take  the  matter  under 
consideration  and  answer  you  as  soon  as  they  are  ready. 

Mr.  Willis  :  Yes,  sir.     Gentlemen,  good  day. 


PRESIDENT   DOLE'S   REPLY. 

Executive  Building, 
Honolulu,  December  23,  1893. 

Sir :  Your  Excellency's  communication  of  December  19th,  an- 
nouncing the  conclusion  which  the  President  of  the  United  States 
of  America  has  finally  arrived  at  respecting  the  application  of  this 
Government  for  a  treaty  of  political  union  with  that  country,  anA 
referring  also  to  the  domestic  affairs  of  these  Islands,  has  had  the 
consideration  of  the  Government. 

While  it  is  with  deep  disappointment  that  we  learn  that  the 
important  proposition  which  we  have  submitted  to  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  and  which  was  at  first  favorably  considered  by 
it,  has  at  length  been  rejected,  we  have  experienced  a  sense  of 
relief  that  we  are  now  favored  with  the  first  ofificial  information  upon 
the  subject  that  has  been  received  through  a  period  of  over  nine 
months. 


QUEEN  KAPIOLANI. — Kapiolani,  wife  of  the  King  Kalakaua,  a  woman  of  the 
greatest  amiability  of  character,  is  a  granddaughter  of  the  last  king  of  Kauai. 
Her  features  are  of  the  best  Hawaiian  type.  Although  able  to  converse  in  the 
Hawaiian  language  alone,  and  wilh  shy,  rather  timid  manners,  she  was  a  favorite 
with  the  foreigners  who  attended  her  husband's  Court. 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  333 

While  we  accept  the  decision  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  declining  further  to  consider  the  annexation  proposition  as  the 
final  conclusion  of  the  present  Administration,  we  do  not  feel 
inclined  to  regard  it  as  the  last  word  of  the  American  Government 
upon  this  subject ;  for  the  history  of  the  mutual  relations  of  the  two 
countries,  of  American  effort  and  influence  in  building  up  the 
Christian  civilization  which  has  so  conspicuously  aided  in  giving  this 
country  an  honorable  place  among  independent  nations,  the  geo- 
graphical position  of  these  Islands,  and  the  important  and,  to  both 
countries,  profitable  reciprocal  commercial  interests  which  have  so 
long  existed,  together  with  our  weakness  as  a  sovereign  nation,  all 
point  with  convincing  force  to  political  union  between  the  two 
countries  as  the  necessary  logical  result  from  the  circumstances 
mentioned.  This  conviction  is  emphasized  by  the  favorable  expres- 
sion of  American  statesmen  over  a  long  period  in  favor  of  annexa- 
tion, conspicuous  among  whom  are  the  names  of  W.  L.  Marcy, 
William  H.  Seward,  Hamilton  Fish  and  James  G.  Blaine,  all  former 
Secretaries  of  State,  and  especially  so  by  the  action  of  your  last 
Administration  in  negotiating  a  treaty  of  annexation  with  this  Gov- 
ernment and  sending  it  to  the  Senate  with  a  view  to  its  ratification. 

We  shall  therefore  continue  the  project  of  political  union  with 
the  United  States  as  a  conspicuous  feature  of  our  foreign  policy, 
confidently  hoping  that  sooner  or  later  it  will  be  crowned  with 
success,  to  the  lasting  benefit  of  both  countries. 

The  additional  portion  of  your  communication,  referring  to  our 
domestic  affairs,  with  a  view  of  interfering  therein,  is  a  new 
departure  in  the  relations  of  the  two  Governments.  Your  informa- 
tion that  the  President  of  the  United  States  expects  this  Government 
"  to  promptly  relinquish  to  her  (meaning  the  ex-Queen)  her  consti- 
tutional authority,"  with  the  question,  "Are  you  willing  to  abide  by 
the  decision  of  the  President  ?  "  might  well  be  dismissed  in  a  single 
word,  but  for  the  circumstance  that  your  communication  contains, 
as  it  appears  to  me,  misstatements,  and  erroneous  conclusions  based 


334    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

thereon  that  are  so  prejudicial  to  this  Government,  that  I  can  not 
permit  them  to  pass  unchallenged  ;  moreover,  the  importance  and 
menacing  character  of  this  proposition  make  it  appropriate  for  me 
to  discuss  somewhat  fully  the  questions  raised  by  it. 

We  do  not  recognize  the  right  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  interfere  in  our  domestic  affairs.  Such  right  could  be 
conferred  upon  him  by  the  act  of  this  Government,  and  by  that 
alone  ;  or  it  could  be  acquired  by  conquest.  This  I  understand  to 
be  the  American  doctrine,  conspicuously  announced  from  time  to 
time  by  the  authorities  of  your  Government. 

President  Jackson  said,  in  his  message  to  Congress,  in  1836: 
"  The  uniform  policy  and  practice  of  the  United  States  is  to  avoid 
all  interference  in  disputes  which  merely  relate  to  the  internal 
government  of  other  nations,  and  eventually  to  recognize  the 
authority  of  the  prevailing  party,  without  reference  to  the  merits  of 
the  original  controversy." 

This  principle  of  international  law  has  been  consistently  rec- 
ognized during  the  whole  past  intercourse  of  the  two  countries, 
and  was  recently  re-affirmed  in  the  instructions  given  by  Secretary 
Gresham  to  Commissioner  Blount,  on  March  11,  1893,  and  by  the 
latter  published  in  the  newspapers  in  Honolulu,  in  a  letter  of  his 
own  to  the  Hawaiian  public.  The  words  of  these  instructions 
which  I  refer  to  are  as  follows  :  "  The  United  States  claim  no  right 
to  interfere  in  the  political  or  domestic  affairs,  or  in  the  internal 
conflicts  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  other  than  as  herein  stated  (re- 
ferring to  the  protection  of  American  citizens),  or  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  any  treaty  or  other  rights  which  they  possess."  The 
treaties  between  the  two  countries  confer  no  right  of  interference. 

Upon  what  then,  Mr.  Minister,  does  the  President  of  the  United 
States  base  his  right  of  interference  ?  Your  communication  is 
without  information  on  this  point,  excepting  such  as  may  be  con- 
tained in  the  following  brief  and  vague  sentences :  "  She  (the 
ex-Queen)  was  advised  and  assured  by  her  Ministers  and  leaders  of 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  335 

the  movement  for  the  overthrow  of  her  Government,  that  if  she 
surrendered  under  protest,  her  case  would  afterward  be  fairly  con- 
sidered by  the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  Queen  finally 
yielded  to  the  armed  forces  of  the  United  States  then  quartered  in 
Honolulu,  relying  on  the  good  faith  and  honor  of  the  President, 
when  informed  of  what  occurred,  to  undo  the  action  of  the  Minister, 
and  reinstate  her  and  the  authority  which  she  claimed  as  the  consti- 
tutional sovereign  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands."  Also,  "It  becomes 
my  further  duty  to  advise  you,  Sir,  the  Executive  of  the  Provisional 
Government,  and  your  Ministers,  of  the  President's  determination 
of  the  question  which  your  action  and  that  of  the  Queen  devolved 
upon  him,  and  that  you  are  expected  to  promptly  relinquish  to  her 
her  constitutional  authority."  I  understand  that  the  first  quotation 
is  referred  to  in  the  following  words  of  the  second  :  "  which  your 
action  and  that  of  the  Queen  devolved  upon  him  "  (the  President  of 
the  United  States),  and  that  the  President  has  arrived  at  his 
conclusions  from  Commissioner  Blount's  report.  We  have  had, 
as  yet,  no  opportunity  of  examining  this  document ;  but,  from 
extracts  published  in  the  papers  and  for  reasons  set  forth  hereafter, 
we  are  not  disposed  to  submit  the  fate  of  Hawaii  to  its  statements 
and  conclusions.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  member  of  the  Executive 
of  the  Provisional  Government  has  conferred  with  the  ex-Queen, 
either  verbally  or  otherwise,  from  the  time  that  the  new  Govern- 
ment was  proclaimed  till  now,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two 
notices  which  were  sent  to  her  by  myself,  in  regard  to  her  removal 
from  the  Palace,  and  relating  to  the  guards  which  the  Government 
first  allowed  her,  and  perhaps  others  of  a  like  nature.  I  infer  that 
a  conversation  with  Mr.  Damon,  then  a  member  of  the  Advisory 
Council,  is  reported  by  Mr.  Blount  to  have  had  with  the  ex-Queen 
on  January  17th,  and  which  has  been  quoted  in  the  newspapers,  is 
the  basis  of  this  astounding  claim  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  of  his  authority  to  adjudicate  upon  our  rights  as  a  Govern- 
ment to  exist.     Mr.  Damon,  on  the  occasion  mentioned,  was  allowed 


Zz6    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

to  accompany  the  Cabinet  of  the  former  Government,  who  had 
been  in  conference  with  me  and  my  associates,  to  meet  the  ex- 
Queen  ;  he  went  informally,  without  instructions  and  without 
authority  to  represent  the  Government,  or  to  assure  the  ex-Queen 
"that  if  she  surrendered  under  protest  her  case  would  afterward  be 
fairly  considered  by  the  President  of  the  United  States."  Our 
ultimatum  had  been  already  given  to  the  members  of  the  ex -cabinet 
who  had  been  in  conference  with  us.  What  Mr.  Damon  said  to  the 
ex-Queen  he  said  on  his  individual  responsibility,  and  did  not  report 
it  to  us.  Mr.  Blount's  report  of  his  remarks  on  that  occasion 
furnished  to  the  Government  its  first  information  of  the  nature  of 
those  remarks.  Admitting,  for  argument's  sake,  that  the  Govern- 
ment had  authorized  such  assurances,  what  was  "her  case"  that 
was  afterward  to  "be  fairly  considered  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States?  "  Was  it  the  question  of  her  right  to  subvert  the 
Hawaiian  Constitution  and  to  proclaim  a  new  one  to  suit  herself,  or 
was  it  her  claim  to  be  restored  to  the  sovereignty,  or  was  it  her 
claim  against  the  United  States  for  the  alleged  unwarrantable  acts 
of  Minister  Stevens,  or  was  it  all  these  in  the  alternative  ?  Who 
can  say  ?  But  if  it  had  been  all  of  these,  or  any  of  them,  it  could 
not  have  been  more  clearly  and  finally  decided  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States  in  favor  of  the  Provisional  Government  than 
when  he  recognized  it  without  qualification  and  received  its  accred- 
ited Commissioners,  negotiated  a  treaty  of  annexation  with  them, 
received  its  accredited  Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Pleni- 
potentiary, and  accredited  successively  two  Envoys  Extraordinary 
and  Ministers  Plenipotentiary  to  it ;  the  ex-Queen  in  the  meantime 
being  represented  in  Washington  by  her  agent  v/ho  had  full  access 
to  the  Department  of  State. 

The  whole  business  of  the  Government  with  the  President  of 
the  United  States  is  set  forth  in  the  correspondence  between  the  two 
Governments  and  the  acts  and  statements  of  the  Minister  or  this 
Government   at  Washington   and   the   Annexation  Commissioners 


.STEA.MEK  ALSIKALIA.  The  (Jceauif  Company's  steamship  Australia  makes  the 
trip  from  San  Francisco  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  every  four  weeks.  This  steamer 
carries  the  larger  part  of  the  tourists  to  Honolulu,  as  it  is  the  only  one  that  sails  to 
that  port  alone,  the  other  large  ocean  steamers  merely  stopping  en  route  to  Australia 
or  Japan  and  China. 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  339 

accredited  to  it.  If  we  have  submitted  our  right  to  exist  to  the 
United  States,  the  fact  will  appear  in  that  correspondence  and  the 
acts  of  our  Minister  and  Commissioners.  Such  agreement  must  be 
shown  as  the  foundation  of  the  right  of  your  Government  to  inter- 
fere, for  an  arbitrator  can  be  created  only  by  the  act  of  two  parties. 
The  ex-Queen  sent  her  attorney  to  Washington  to  plead  her 
claim  for  reinstatement  in  power,  or  failing  that,  for  a  money  allow- 
ance or  damages.  This  attorney  was  refused  passage  on  the  Gov- 
ernment dispatch-boat,  which  was  sent  to  San  Francisco  with  the 
Annexation  Commissioners  and  their  message.  The  departure  of 
this  vessel  was  less  than  two  days  after  the  new  Government  was 
declared,  and  the  refusal  was  made  promptly  upon  receiving  the 
request  therefor,  either  on  the  day  the  Government  was  declared, 
or  on  the  next  day.  If  an  intention  to  submit  the  question  of  the 
reinstatement  of  the  ex-Queen  had  existed,  why  should  her  attorney 
have  been  refused  passage  on  this  boat  ?  The  ex-Queen's  letter 
to  President  Harrison,  dated  January  i8th,  the  day  after  the  new 
Government  was  proclaimed,  makes  no  allusion  to  any  understand- 
ing between  her  and  the  Government  for  arbitration.  Her  letter  is 
as  follows : — 

"  His  Excellency,  BENJAMIN  HARRISON,  President  of  the  United  States. 

"  My  Great  and  Good  Friend : — It  is  with  deep  regret  that  I 
address  you  on  this  occasion.  Some  of  my  subjects,  aided  by  aliens, 
have  renounced  their  loyalty  and  revolted  against  the  constitutional 
Government  of  my  kingdom.  They  have  attempted  to  depose  me 
and  to  establish  a  Provisional  Government,  in  direct  conflict  with 
the  organic  law  of  this  kingdom.  Upon  receiving  incontestible  proof 
that  His  Excellency,  the  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States,  aided  and  abetted  their  unlawful  movements  and  caused 
United  States  troops  to  be  landed  for  that  purpose,  I  submitted  to 
force,  believing  that  he  would  not  have  acted  in  that  manner  unless 
by  the  authority  of  the  Government  which  he  represents. 


340    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE    LILIUOKALANI. 

"  This  action  on  my  part  was  prompted  by  three  reasons  :  The 
futility  of  a  conflict  with  the  United  States  ;  the  desire  to  avoid 
violence,  bloodshed  and  the  destruction  of  life  and  property,  and 
the  certainty  which  I  feel  that  you  and  your  Government  will  right 
whatever  wrongs  may  have  been  inflicted  upon  us  in  the  premises. 

"  In  due  time  a  statement  of  the  true  facts  relating  to  this  matter 
will  be  laid  before  you,  and  I  live  in  the  hope  that  you  will  judge 
uprightly  and  justly  between  myself  and-my  enemies.  This  appeal 
is  not  made  for  myself  personally,  but  for  my  people,  who  have 
hitherto  always  enjoyed  the  friendship  and  protection  of  the  United 
States. 

"  My  opponents  have  taken  the  only  vessel  which  could  be 
obtained  here  for  the  purpose  and,  hearing  of  their  intention  to 
send  a  delegation  of  their  number  to  present  their  side  of  this 
conflict  before  you,  I  requested  the  favor  of  sending  by  the  same 
vessel  an  envoy  to  you,  to  lay  before  you  my  statement,  as  the 
facts  appear  to  myself  and  my  loyal  subjects. 

"  This  request  has  been  refused,  and  I  now  ask  you  that  in 
justice  to  myself  and  to  my  people  that  no  steps  be  taken  by  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  until  my  cause  can  be  heard  by 
you. 

"  I  shall  be  able  to  dispatch  an  envoy  about  the  2d  of  February, 
as  that  will  be  the  first  available  opportunity  hence,  and  he  will 
reach  you  with  every  possible  haste,  that  there  may  be  no  delay  in 
the  settlement  of  this  matter. 

"  I  pray  you,  therefore,  my  good  friend,  that  you  will  not  allow 
any  conclusions  to  be  reached  by  you  until  my  envoy  arrives. 

"  I  beg  to  assure  you  of  the  continuance  of  my  highest  con- 
sideration. 

"  LILIUOKALANI  R. 

"Honolulu,  January  i8,  1893." 

If  any  understanding  had  existed  at  that  time  between  her  and 
the  Government  to  submit  the  question  of  her  restoration  to  the 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  341 

United  States,  some  reference  to  such  understanding  would  naturally 
have  appeared  in  this  letter,  as  every  reason  would  have  existed  for 
calling  the  attention  of  the  President  to  that  fact,  especially  as  she 
then  knew  that  her  attorney  would  be  seriously  delayed  in  reaching 
Washington.  But  there  is  not  a  word  from  which  such  an  under- 
standing can  be  predicated.  The  Government  sent  its  Commis- 
sioners to  Washington  for  the  sole  object  of  procuring  the  confirmation 
of  the  recognition  by  Minister  Stevens  of  the  new  Government,  and 
to  enter  into  negotiations  for  political  union  with  the  United  States. 
The  protest  of  the  ex-Queen,  made  on  January  17th,  is  equally 
with  the  letter,  devoid  of  evidence  of  any  mutual  understanding  for 
a  submission  of  her  claim  to  the  throne,  to  the  United  States.  It  is 
very  evidently  a  protest  against  the  alleged  action  of  Minister 
Stevens  as  well  as  the  new  Government,  and  contains  a  notice  of 
her  appeal  to  the  United  States.  The  document  was  received 
exactly  as  it  would  have  been  received  if  it  had  come  through  the 
mail.  The  endorsement  of  its  receipt  upon  the  paper  was  made  at 
the  request  of  the  individual  who  brought  it,  as  evidence  of  its  safe 
delivery.  As  to  the  ex-Queen's  notice  of  her  appeal  to  the  United 
States,  it  was  a  matter  of  indifference  to  us.  Such  an  appeal  could 
not  have  been  prevented,  as  the  mail  service  was  in  operation  as 
usual.  That  such  a  notice  and  our  receipt  of  it  without  comment, 
should  be  made  a  foundation  of  a  claim  that  we  had  submitted  our 
right  to  exist  as  a  Government  to  the  United  States,  had  never 
occurred  to  us  until  suggested  by  your  Government.  The  protest  is 
as  follows : — 

"  I,  Liliuokalani,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  under  the  Constitution 
of  the  Hawaiian  Kingdom,  Queen,  do  hereby  solemnly  protest 
against  any  and  all  acts  done  against  myself  and  the  constitutional 
Government  of  the  Hawaiian  Kingdom  by  certain  persons  claiming 
to  have  established  a  Provisional  Government  of  and  for  this 
Kingdom. 

"That  I  yield   to  the  superior  force  of  the  United    States  of 


342    EFFORT   TO    RESTORE    LILIUOKALANI. 

America,  whose  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  His  Excellency  John  L. 
Stevens,  has  caused  United  States  troops  to  be  landed  at  Honolulu, 
and  declared  that  he  would  support  the  said  Provisional  Government. 

"  Now,  to  avoid  any  collision  of  armed  forces  and  perhaps  the 
loss  of  life,  I  do  under  this  protest  and  impelled  by  said  force,  yield 
my  authority  until  such  time  as  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  shall,  upon  the  facts  being  presented  to  it,  undo  the  action  of 
its  representative  and  reinstate  me  in  the  authority  which  I  claim  as 
the  constitutional  sovereign  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

"  Done  at  Honolulu,  the  seventeenth  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1893. 

"  LILIUOKALANI,  R. 

"  Samuel  Parker,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
"  Wm.  H.  CORNWELL,  Minister  of  Finance. 
"  JnO.  F.  COLBURN,  Minister  of  the  Interior. 
"  A.  P.  Peterson,  Attorney-General. 

"  S.  B.  Dole  and  others  composing  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment of  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

"(Endorsed.)  Received  by  the  hands  of  the  late  Cabinet,  the 
seventeenth  day  of  January,  A.  D.  1893.  Sanford  B.  DOLE, 
Chairman  of  Executive  Council  of  Provisional  Government." 

You  may  not  be  aware,  but  such  is  the  fact,  that  at  no  time  until 
the  presentation  of  the  claim  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  of 
his  right  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  this  country  by  you 
on  December  19th,  has  this  Government  been  officially  informed  by 
the  United  States  Government  that  any  such  course  was  contem- 
plated. And  not  until  the  publication  of  Mr.  Gresham's  letter  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States  on  the  Hawaiian  question,  had 
we  any  reliable  intimation  of  such  a  policy.  The  adherents  of  the 
ex-Queen  have  indeed  claimed  from  time  to  time  that  such  was  the 
case,  but  we  have  never  been  able  to  attach  serious  importance  to 
their  rumors  to  that  effect,  feeling  secure  in  our  perfect  diplomatic 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE    LILIUOKALANI.  343 

relations  with  your  country,  and  relying  upon  the  friendship  and 
fairness  of  a  Government  whose  dealings  with  us  have  ever  shown 
full  recognition  of  our  independence  as  a  sovereign  power,  without 
any  tendency  to  take  advantage  of  the  disparity  of  strength  between 
the  two  countries.  If  your  contention  that  President  Cleveland 
believes  that  this  Government  and  the  ex-Queen  have  submitted 
their  respective  claims  to  the  sovereignty  of  this  country,  to  the 
adjudication  of  the  United  States  is  correct,  then,  may  I  ask,  when 
and  where  has  the  President  held  his  court  of  arbitration?  This 
Government  has  had  no  notice  of  the  sitting  of  such  a  tribunal  and 
no  opportunity  of  presenting  evidence  of  its  claims.  If  Mr.  Blount's 
investigations  were  part  of  the  proceedings  of  such  a  court,  this 
Government  did  not  know  it  and  was  never  informed  of  it ;  indeed, 
as  I  have  mentioned  above,  we  never  knew,  until  the  publication  of 
Secretary  Gresham's  letter  to  President  Cleveland  a  few  weeks 
ago,  that  the  American  Executive  had  a  policy  of  interference  under 
contemplation.  Even  if  we  had  known  that  Mr.  Blount  was  authori- 
tatively acting  as  Commissioner  to  take  evidence  upon  the  question 
of  the  restoration  of  the  ex-Queen,  the  methods  adopted  by  him  in 
making  his  investigations  were,  I  submit,  unsuitable  to  such  an 
examination,  or  any  examination  upon  which  human  interests  were 
to  be  adjudicated.  As  I  am  reliably  informed,  he  selected  his 
witnesses  and  examined  them  in  secret,  freely  using  leading  ques- 
tions, giving  no  opportunity  for  a  cross-examination  and  often  not 
permitting  such  explanations  by  witnesses  themselves  as  they 
desired  to  make  of  evidence  which  he  had  drawn  from  them.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  for  me  to  suggest  that,  under  such  a  mode  of 
examination,  some  witnesses  would  be  almost  helpless  in  the  hands 
of  an  astute  lawyer,  and  might  be  drawn  into  saying  things  which 
would  be  only  half-truths,  and  standing  alone  would  be  misleading 
or  even  false  in  effect.  Is  it  likely  that  an  investigation  conducted 
in  this  manner  could  result  in  a  fair,  full  and  truthful  statement  of 
the  case  in  point  ?     Surely  the  destinies  of  a  friendly  Government, 


344    EFFORT   TO    RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

admitting  by  way  of  argument  that  the  right  of  arbitration  exists, 
may  not  be  disposed  of  upon  an  ex-parte  and  secret  investigation 
made  without  the  knowledge  of  such  Government,  or  an  oppor- 
tunity by  it  to  be  heard,  or  even  to  know  who  the  witnesses  were. 

Mr.  Blount  came  here  as  a  stranger  and  at  once  entered  upon 
his  duties.  He  devoted  himself  to  the  work  of  collecting  information, 
both  by  the  examination  of  witnesses  and  the  collection  of  statistics 
and  other  documentary  matter,  with  great  energy  and  industry, 
giving  up  substantially  his  whole  time  to  its  prosecution.  He  was 
here  but  a  few  months,  and  during  that  time  was  so  occupied  with 
this  work  that  he  had  little  opportunity  left  for  receiving  those 
impressions  of  the  state  of  affairs  which  could  best  have  come 
to  him  incidentally  through  a  wide  social  intercourse  with  the 
people  of  the  country  and  a  personal  acquaintance  with  its  various 
communities  and  educational  and  industrial  enterprises.  He  saw 
the  country  from  his  cottage  in  the  center  of  Honolulu,  mainly 
through  the  eyes  of  the  witnesses  whom  he  examined.  Under 
these  circumstances  is  it  probable  that  the  most  earnest  of  men 
would  be  able  to  form  a  statement  that  could  safely  be  relied  upon 
as  the  basis  of  a  decision  upon  the  question  of  the  standing  of 
a  Government  ? 

In  view,  therefore,  of  all  the  facts  in  relation  to  the  question  of 
the  President's  authority  to  interfere,  and  concerning  which  the 
members  of  the  Executive  were  actors  and  eye-witnesses,  I  am 
able  to  assure  Your  Excellency  that  by  no  action  of  this  Govern- 
ment on  the  seventeenth  day  of  January  last,  or  since  that  time, 
has  the  authority  devolved  upon  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  this  country  through  any 
conscious  act  or  expression  of  this  Government  with  such  an 
intention. 

You  state  in  your  communication: — 

"After  a  patient  examination  of  Mr.  Blount's  reports,  the  Pres- 
ident  is    satisfied  that  the  movement  against  the  Queen,  if   not 


EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  345 

instigated,  was  encouraged  and  supported  by  the  representative  of 
this  Government  at  Honolulu;  that  he  promised  in  advance  to  aid 
her  enemies  in  an  effort  to  overthrow  the  Hawaiian  Government  and 
set  up  by  force  a  new  Government  in  its  place  ;  that  he  kept  his 
promise  by  causing  a  detachment  of  troops  to  be  landed  from  the 
"Boston,"  on  the  i6th  of  January,  1893,  and  by  recognizing  the 
Provisional  Government  the  next  day,  when  it  was  too  feeble  to 
defend  itself,  and  the  constitutional  Government  was  able  to  suc- 
cessfully maintain  its  authority  against  any  threatening  force  other 
than  that  of  the  United  States  already  landed." 

Without  entering  into  a  discussion  of  the  facts,  I  beg  to  state  in 
reply  that  I  am  unable  to  judge  of  the  correctness  of  Mr.  Blount's 
report,  from  which  the  President's  conclusions  were  drawn,  as  I 
have  had  no  opportunity  of  examining  such  report.  But  I  desire 
to  specifically  and  emphatically  deny  the  correctness  of  each  and 
every  one  of  the  allegations  of  fact  contained  in  the  above-quoted 
statement ;  yet,  as  the  President  has  arrived  at  a  positive  opinion 
in  his  own  mind  in  the  matter,  I  will  refer  to  it  from  his  own  stand- 
point. 

My  position  is  briefly  this  :  If  the  American  forces  illegally 
assisted  the  revolutionists  in  the  establishment  of  the  Provisional 
Government,  that  Government  is  not  responsible  for  their  wrong 
doing.  It  was  purely  a  private  matter  tor  discipline  between  the 
United  States  Government  and  its  own  officers.  There  is,  I  submit, 
no  precedent  in  international  law  for  the  theory  that  such  action  of 
the  American  troops  has  conferred  upon  the  United  States  authority 
over  the  internal  affairs  of  this  Government.  Should  it  be  true,  as 
you  have  suggested,  that  the  American  Government  made  itself 
responsible  to  the  Queen,  who,  it  is  alleged,  lost  her  throne  through 
such  action,  that  is  not  a  matter  for  me  to  discuss,  except  to  submit 
that,  if  such  be  the  case,  it  is  a  matter  for  the  American  Govern- 
ment and  her  to  settle  between  them.  This  Government,  a  recog- 
nized sovereign  power,  equal  in  authority  with  the  United  States 


346    EFFORT  TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

Government  and  enjoying  perfect  diplomatic  relations  with  it,  can 
not  be  destroyed  by  it  for  the  sake  of  discharging  its  obligations  to 
the  Queen. 

Upon  these  grounds,  Mr.  Minister,  in  behalf  of  my  Government, 
I  respectfully  protest  against  the  usurpation  of  its  authority  as  sug- 
gested by  the  language  of  your  communication. 

It  is  difficult  for  a  stranger  like  yourself,  and  much  more  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  with  his  pressing  responsibilities,  his 
crowding  cares  and  his  want  of  familiarity  with  the  condition  and 
history  of  this  country  and  the  inner  life  of  its  people,  to  obtain  a 
clear  insight  into  the  real  state  of  affairs  and  to  understand  the 
social  currents,  the  race  feelings  and  the  customs  and  traditions, 
which  all  contribute  to  the  political  outlook.  We,  who  have  grown 
up  here,  or  who  have  adopted  this  country  as  our  home,  are  con- 
scious of  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  stable  government  here.  A 
community  which  is  made  up  of  five  races,  of  which  the  larger  part 
but  dimly  appreciates  the  significance  and  value  of  representative 
institutions,  offers  political  problems  which  may  well  tax  the  wisdom 
of  the  most  experienced  statesman. 

For  long  years  a  large  and  influential  part  of  this  community, 
including  many  foreigners  and  native  Hawaiians,  have  observed 
with  deep  regret  the  retrogressive  tendencies  of  the  Hawaiian  mon- 
archy, and  have  honorably  striven  against  them,  and  have  sought, 
through  legislative  work,  the  newspapers  and  by  personal  appeal 
and  individual  influence,  to  support  and  emphasize  the  representative 
features  of  the  monarchy,  and  to  create  a  public  sentiment  favorable 
thereto,  and  thereby  to  avert  the  catastrophe  that  seemed  inevitable 
if  such  tendencies  were  not  restrained.  These  efforts  have  been 
met  by  the  last  two  sovereigns  in  a  spirit  of  aggressive  hostility. 
The  struggle  became  at  length  a  well-defined  issue  between  royal 
prerogative  and  the  right  of  representative  government,  and  most 
bitterly  and  unscrupulously  has  it  been  carried  on  in  the  interests  of 
the  former.     The  King's  privilege  of  importing  goods  for  his  own  use 


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EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  349 

without  paying  the  duties  thereon,  was  abused  to  the  extent  of 
admitting  large  quantities  of  liquors  with  which  to  debauch  the  elec- 
torate. He  promoted  the  election  of  Government  officers,  both 
executive  and  judicial,  to  the  Legislative  Assembly,  and  freely  ap- 
pointed to  office  elected  members  thereof.  In  the  Legislature  of 
1886,  of  which  I  was  a  member,  the  party  supporting  the  Govern- 
ment was  largely  in  the  majority,  and  nearly  every  member  of  such 
majority  held  some  appointment  from  the  Government,  and  some  of 
them  as  many  as  two  or  three,  thereby  effectually  placing  the  legis- 
lative branch  of  the  Government  under  the  personal  and  absolute 
control  of  the  King.  The  constitutional  encroachments,  lawless 
extravagance  and  scandalous  and  open  sales  of  patronage  and  privi- 
lege to  the  highest  bidder  by  Kalakaua  brought  on  at  length  the 
revolution  of  1887,  which  had  the  full  sympathy  and  moral  support 
of  all  the  diplomatic  representatives  in  Honolulu,  including  Minister 
Merrill,  who  was,  at  that  time,  President  Cleveland's  Minister  here. 
This  revolution  was  not  an  annexation  movement  in  any  sense,  but 
tended  towards  an  independent  republic,  but  when  it  had  the  mon- 
archy in  \tz  power,  conservative  counsel  prevailed,  and  a  new  lease 
of  life  was  allowed  that  institution  on  the  condition  of  royal  fidelity 
to  the  new  Constitution  which  was  then  promulgated  and  greatly 
curtailed  the  powers  of  the  sovereign.  Kalakaua  was  not  faithful 
to  this  compact,  and  sought  as  far  as  possible  to  evade  its  stipula- 
tions. The  insurrection  of  1889  was  connived  at  by  him,  and  the 
household  guards  under  his  control  were  not  allowed  to  take  part  in 
suppressing  it.  The  Princess  Liliuokalani  was  in  full  sympathy  with 
this  movement,  being  a  party  to  it,  and  furnishing  her  suburban  resi- 
dence to  the  insurgents  for  their  meetings.  The  arrangements  were 
then  made  and  the  insurgents  marched  thence  for  their  attack  upon 
the  Government.  The  affair  was  suppressed  in  a  few  hours  of 
fighting,  with  some  loss  of  life  to  the  insurgents,  by  the  party  which 
carried  through  the  revolution  of  1887. 

The  ex-Queen's  rule  was  even  more  reckless  and  retrogressive 


350    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE    LILIUOKALANI. 

than  her  brother's.  Less  politic  than  he,  and  with  less  knowledge* 
of  affairs,  she  had  more  determination  and  was  equally  unreliable 
and  deficient  in  moral  principle.  She,  to  all  appearance,  unhesi- 
tatingly took  the  oath  of  office  to  govern  according  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  evidently  regarding  it  merely  as  a  formal  ceremony, 
began,  according  to  her  own  testimony  to  Mr.  Blount,  to  lay  her 
plans  to  destroy  the  Constitution  and  replace  it  with  one  of  her  own 
creation.  With  a  like  disregard  of  its  sanctions,  she  made  the  most 
determined  efforts  to  control  all  the  appointments  to  office,  both 
executive  and  judicial.  The  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1892  was 
the  longest  that  had  ever  occurred  in  our  history,  and  was  charac- 
terized by  a  most  obstinate  struggle  for  personal  control  of  the 
Government  and  the  Legislature  on  the  part  of  the  Queen  ;  this 
was  strenuously  resisted  by  the  opposition.  During  this  contest 
four  ministerial  cabinets  were  appointed  and  unseated,  and  the 
lottery  franchise  bill,  which  had  been  withdrawn  early  in  the 
session  for  want  of  sufficient  support,  was  at  the  last  moment, 
when  the  opposition  was  weakened  by  the  absence  of  several  of 
its  members,  again  brought  forward  and  passed  through  the  exercise 
of  improper  and  illegitimate  influences  upon  the  Legislators,  among 
which  were  personal  appeals  on  the  part  of  the  Queen  to  them. 
The  Cabinet  which  represented  the  opposition  and  the  majority 
of  the  Legislature,  which  the  Queen  had  been  compelled  to  appoint, 
was  unseated  by  similar  means,  and,  with  a  new  Cabinet  of  her 
own  choice,  the  Legislature  was  prorogued.  This  lottery  franchise 
was  of  a  character  corresponding  with  similar  institutions  which 
have  been  driven  out  of  every  State  of  the  American  Union  by  an 
indignant  public  sentiment.  If  it  had  been  established  here  it 
would  in  a  brief  period  have  obtained  full  control  of  the  Government 
patronage,  and  corrupted  the  social  and  political  life  of  the  people. 

Although  the  situation  at  the  close  of  the  session  was  deeply  dis- 
couraging to  the  community,  it  was  accepted  without  any  intention  of 
meeting  it  other  than  by  legal  means.     The  attempted  coup  d'etat 


EFFORT  TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI.  351 

of  the  Queen  followed,  and  her  ministers,  threatened  with  violence, 
fled  to  the  citizens  for  assistance  and  protection ;  then  it  was  that  the 
uprising  against  the  Queen  took  place,  and,  gathering  force  from  day 
to  day,  resulted  in  the  proclamation  of  the  Provisional  Government 
and  the  abrogation  of  the  monarchy  on  the  third  day  thereafter. 

No  man  can  correctly  say  that  the  Queen  owed  her  downfall  to 
the  interference  of  American  forces.  The  revolution  was  carried 
through  by  the  representatives,  now  largely  reinforced,  of  the  same 
public  sentiment  which  forced  the  monarchy  to  its  knees  in  1887  ; 
which  suppressed  the  insurrection  of  1889,  and  which,  for  twenty 
years,  had  been  battling  for  representative  government  in  this 
country.  If  the  American  forces  had  been  absent  the  revolution 
would  have  taken  place,  for  the  sufficient  cause  for  it  had  nothing 
to  do  with  their  presence. 

I,  therefore,  in  all  friendship  for  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  which  you  represent,  and  desiring  to  cherish  the  good-will  of 
the  great  American  people,  submit  the  answer  of  my  Government 
to  your  proposition,  and  ask  that  you  will  transmit  the  same  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  for  his  consideration. 

Though  the  Provisional  Government  is  far  from  being  "a.  great 
power "  and  could  not  long  resist  the  forces  of  the  United  States  in 
hostile  attack,  we  deem  our  position  to  be  impregnable  under  all 
legal  precedents,  under  the  principles  of  diplomatic  intercourse  and 
in  the  forum  of  conscience.  We  have  done  your  Government  no 
wrong ;  no  charge  of  discourtesy  is  or  can  be  brought  against  us. 
Our  only  issue  with  your  people  has  been  that  because  we  revered 
its  institutions  of  civil  liberty,  we  have  desired  to  have  them  ex- 
tended to  our  own  distracted  country,  and  because  we  honor  its  flag, 
and  deeming  that  its  benefits  and  authoritative  presence  would  be 
for  the  best  interests  of  all  of  our  people,  we  have  stood  ready  to  add 
our  country,  a  new  star,  to  its  glory,  and  to  consummate  a  union 
which  we  believed  would  be  as  much  for  the  benefit  of  youf  country 
as  ours.     If  this  is  an  offense,  we  plead  guilty  to  it 


552    EFFORT   TO   RESTORE   LILIUOKALANI. 

I  am  instructed  to  inform  you,  Mr.  Minister,  that  the  Provisional 
Government  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  respectfully  and  unhesitat- 
ingly declines  to  entertain  the  proposition  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  that  it  should  surrender  its  authority  to  the  ex-Queen. 

This  answer  is  made  not  only  upon  the  grounds  hereinbefore 
set  forth,  but  upon  our  sense  of  duty  and  loyalty  to  the  brave 
men  whose  commission  we  hold,  who  have  faithfully  stood  by 
us  in  the  hour  of  trial  and  whose  will  is  the  only  earthly  authority 
we  recognize.  We  can  not  betray  the  sacred  trust  they  have 
placed  in  our  hands,  a  trust  which  represents  the  cause  of  Christian 
civilization  in  the  interests  of  the  whole  people  of  these  Islands. 

The  success  with  which  the  Provisional  Government 
has  administered  the  affairs  of  Hawaii,  and  the  dignity, 
ability  and  admirable  temper  with  which  President  Dole 
dealt  with  the  question  in  issue,  whether  raised  by  the 
Hawaiian  royalists  or  by  the  United  States  officials,  had 
gained  a  strong  predominance  of  American  public  senti- 
ment. The  fidelity  and  candor  with  which  Minister  Willis 
reported  to  the  Government  at  Washington  the  real  situa- 
tion at  Honolulu,  his  strong  endorsement  of  the  character 
of  the  men  constituting  and  supporting  the  Provisional 
Government,  and  the  reluctance  which  he  manifested  to 
carry  out  extreme  instructions,  also  tended  to  strengthen 
public  opinion  in  a  correct  view  of  Hawaiian  affairs.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  United  States  Senate,  by  formal  resolution, 
instructed  its  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  to  investigate 
"whether  any  irregularities  have  occurred  in  the  diplomatic 
or  other  intercourse  between  the  United  States  and  Hawaii 
in  relation  to  recent  political  revolution  in  Hawaii." 

This  Committee  was  authorized  to  send  for  persons 


EFFORT   TO    RESTORE   LILIUOKALANL  353 

and  papers,  and  to  administer  oaths  to  witnesses.  It 
made  an  extended  and  tliorough  investigation,  occupying 
several  weeks,  examining  numerous  witnesses,  those 
whom  the  Committee  deemed  most  competent  to  give 
testimony  on  the  subject.  Through  its  Chairman,  the 
Hon.  John  T.  Morgan,  the  majority  of  the  Committee 
made  an  elaborate  report.  The  following  extracts  from 
that  document  cover  the  main  points  which  had  been 
in  controversy  between  the  Provisional  Government  and 
the  supporters  of  the  fallen  monarchy,  and  are  conclusive 
as  to  what  should  be  the  future  attitude  and  policy  of 
the  United  States  towards  the  American  colony  and  its 
associates  in  Hawaii : — 

When  a  crown  falls  in  any  kingdom  of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  it  is  pul- 
verized, and  when  a  scepter  departs,  it  departs  forever  ;  and  American  opinion  can 
not  sustain  any  American  ruler  in  the  attempt  to  restore  them,  no  matter  how  vir- 
tuous and  sincere  the  reasons  may  be  that  seem  to  justify  him. 
*********** 

The  fact  can  not  be  ignored  that  this  revolutionary  movement  of  Liliuokalani, 
which  had  its  development  in  the  selection  of  a  new  cabinet  to  supplant  one  which 
had  the  support  of  all  the  conservative  elements  in  the  island,  was  set  on  foot  and 
accomplished  during  the  absence  of  the  American  Minister  on  board  the  ship 
"  Boston  "  during  the  ten  days  which  preceded  the  prorogation  of  the  Legislature. 
The  astonishment  with  which  this  movement  was  received  by  tlie  American  emi- 
grants and  other  white  people  residing  in  Hawaii,  and  its  inauguration  in  the  ab- 
sence of  the  "  Boston  "  and  of  the  American  Minister,  show  that  those  people,  with 
great  anxiety,  recognized  the  fact  thatit  was  directed  against  them  and  their  inter- 
ests and  welfare,  and  that  when  it  was  completed  they  would  become  its  victims. 
These  convictions  excited  the  serious  apprehensions  of  all  the  white  people  in  those 
islands  that  a  crisis  was  brought  about  in  which  not  only  their  rights  in  Hawaii, 
and  under  the  constitution,  were  to  be  injuriously  affected,  but  that  the  ultimate 
result  would  be  that  they  would  be  driven  from  the  islands  or,  remaining  there, 
would  be  put  at  the  mercy  of  those  who  chose  to  prey  upon  their  property. 

This  class  of  people,  who  were  intended  to  be  ostracised,  supply  nine- tenths 
of  the  entire  tax  receipts  of  the  kingdom  ;  and  they  were  conscious  that  the  pur- 
pose was  to  inflict  taxation  upon  them  without  representation,  or  else  to  confiscate 
their  estates  and  drive  them  out  of  the  country.  This  produced  alarm  and  agita- 
tion, which  resulted  in  the  counter  movement  set  on  foot  by  the  people  to  meet  and 
overcome  the  revolution  which  Liliuokalani  had  projected  and  had  endeavored  to 
accomplish.  Her  Ministers  were  conscious  of  the  fact  that  any  serious  resistance 
to  her  revolutionary  movement  (of  which  they  had  full  knowledge  before  they 
were  inducted  into  office)  would  disappoint  the  expectations  of  the  Queen  and 
would  result  in  the  overthrow  of  the  executive  government ;  and,  while  they  had 
evidently  promised  the  Queen  that  they  would  support  her  in  her  effort  to  abolish 


354    EFFORT    TO    RTSUORE    LILIUOKALANL 

the  constinition  of  1887  and  substitute  one  which  they  had  secretly  assisted  in 
prepariiij:?,  when  the  moment  of  the  trial  came  they  abandoned  her — they  broke 
faith  with  her.  The  Queen's  Ministers  took  fright  and  gave  information  to  the 
people  of  the  existence  of  the  movements  and  concealed  purposes  of  the  Queen 
and  of  her  demands  upon  them  to  join  her  in  the  promulgation  of  the  constitution, 
and  they  appealed  to  the  Committee  of  Safety  for  protection,  and  continued  in  that 
attitude  until  they  saw  that  the  kindled  wrath  of  the  people  would  not  take  the 
direction  of  violence  and  bloodshed  without  the  provocation  of  a  serious  necessity. 
Being  satisfied  that  they  could  trust  to  the  forbearance  of  the  people,  who 
were  looking  to  the  protection  of  their  interests  and  had  no  desire  for  strife  and 
bloodshed,  they  began  to  tmesse  'n  a  political  way  to  effect  a  compromise  between 
the  people  and  the  Queen,  and  they  induced  her  to  make  the  proclamation  of  her 
intentions  to  postpone  the  completion  of  her  revolutionary  purposes,  which  was 
circulated  in  Honolulu  on  Monday  morning.  These  men,  'whose  condixt  can  not 
be  characterized  as  anything  less  than  perfidious,  hastened  to  give  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  false  and  misleading  statements  of  the  facts  leading  up  to, 
attending,  and  succeeding  this  revolution.  To  do  this  they  made  deceptive  and 
misleading  statements  to  Mr.  Blount.  Upon  them  must  rest  the  odium  of  having 
encouraged  the  Queen  in  her  revolutionary  intentions  ;  of  having  then  abandoned 
her  in  a  moment  of  apparent  danger ;  of  having  thrown  themselves  upon  the 
mercy  of  the  people,  and  then  of  making  an  attempt,  through  falsehood  and  mis- 
representation, to  regain  power  in  the  Government  of  Hawaii,  which  the  people 

would  naturally  forever  deny  them. 

******  *  **** 

The  diplomatic  officers  of  the  United  States  in  Hawaii  have  the  right  to  much 

larger  liberty  of  action  in  respect  to  the  internal  affairs  of  that  country  than  would 

be  the  case  with  any  other  country  with  which  we  have  no  peculiar  or  special 

relations. 

**  *  *  *  *  *  *  **  * 

But  the  Government  of  the  United  States  had  the  right  to  keep  its  troops  in 
Honolulu  until  these  conditions  were  performed,  and  the  Government  of  Hawaii 
couid  certainly  acquiesce  in  such  a  policy  without  endangering  its  independence  or 
detracting  from  its  dignity.  This  was  done,  and  the  troops  from  the  Boston 
camped  on  shore  for  several  months.  The  precise  hour  when  or  the  precise  con- 
ditions under  which  the  American  Minister  recognized  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment is  not  a  matter  of  material  importance.  It  was  his  duty,  at  the  earliest  safe 
period,  to  assist  by  his  recognition  in  the  termination  of  the  interregnum,  so  that 
citizens  of  the  United  States  might  be  safely  remitted  to  the  care  of  that  govern- 
ment for  the  security  of  their  rights.  As  foon  as  he  was  convinced  that  the  Pro- 
visional Government  was  secure  against  overthrow,  it  was  his  duty  to  recognize 

the  rehabilitated  state. 
*********** 

Whether  this  was  done  an  hour  or  two  sooner  or  later  could  make  no  sub- 
stantial difference  as  to  his  rights  or  duties,  if  he  was  satisfied  that  the  movement 
was  safe  against  reversal.  If  no  question  of  the  annexation  of  Hawaii  to  the 
United  States  had  existed,  the  conduct  of  the  American  Minister  in  giving  official 
recognition  to  the  Provisional  Government  would  not  have  been  the  subject  of 
adverse  criticism.  But  the  presence  of  that  question  and  his  anxious  advocacy  of 
annexation  did  not  relieve  him  from  the  duty  or  abridge  his  right  to  call  for  the 
troops  on  the  "Boston"  to  protect  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  during  an 
interregnum  in  the  office  of  chief  executive  of  Hawaii.  They  were  not  to  be  put 
into  a  state  of  outlawry  and  peril  if  the  Minister  had  been  opposed  to  annexation, 
nor  could  his  desire  on  that  subject  in  any  way  affect  their  rights  or  his  duty. 
He  gave  to  them  the  protection  they  had  the  right  to  demand,  and,  in  respect  of 
his  action  up  to  this  point,  so  far  as  it  related  to  Hawaii,  his  opinions  as  to  annex- 
ation have  not  affected  the  attitude  of  the  United  States  Government,  and  the 
committee  find  no  cause  of  censure  either  against  Minister  Stevens  or  Capt.  Wiltse, 
of  the  "  Boston." 


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